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ADDRE  SS 


DELIVERED     IN     PETERSHAM,    MASSACHUSETTS, 


JULY  4,   1854, 


IN    COMMEMORATION    OF 


THE    ONE    HUNDREDTH    ANNIVERSARY 


INCORPORATION  OF  THAT  TOWN. 


BY    EDMUND     B.    WILLSOX. 


C^itJ)  an  Stppcndip. 


BOSTON: 

CROSBY,   NICHOLS,   AND   COMPANY, 
111,  Washixgton  Street. 

1855. 


100598 


Petersham,  July  31,  1854. 


Rev.  Edmuxd  B.  Wuxson,  West  Roxburt. 


I)e.\r  Sir,  —  The  undersigned  Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Centennial  Celebration 
on  the  4th  of  July,  respectfully  request  for  publication  a  copy  of  the  able  and  interesting 
Address  delivered  by  you  on  that  occasion.  The  profound  attention  with  which  that  great 
audience  listened  must  convince  you,  more  than  any  thing  that  we  can  express,  of  the  deep 
interest  that  was  felt  in  the  Address. 


William  Parkhurst, 
Cephas  Willakd, 
Seth  Hapoood, 
Lewis  Whitnet, 
PniNEHAS  W.  Barr, 

Joseph  Q.  Parmenter, 
Daniel  Stowell, 
William  H.  Bancroft, 


Hdbbard  Peckham, 
John  G.  Mddge, 

J.    P.    PlLlSBURT, 

John  M.  IIolman, 
Jesse  Rogers, 
William  Cook, 
Collins  Andrews, 

Committee  of  Arrangements. 


West  Roxbhrt,  Aug.  3, 1854. 
Messrs.  William  Parkhurst,  Cephas  Willard,  and  others,  Committee. 

Gentlemen,  —  The  Address  delivered  at  our  late  Celebration  is  at  your  service.  I  shall 
have  to  ask  a  little  time,  however,  to  append  a  few  notes,  and  such  other  related  matter  as 
belongs  to  it. 

I  have  a  lively  and  grateful  recollection  of  the  patient  attention  with  which  the  Address 
was  heard,  despite  the  extreme  heat  and  long  sitting  of  that  midsummer's  day. 


With  much  regard,  I  am  yours. 


K.   B.   WlI.LSON. 


BOSTON: 
riilNTKI)     I',y    JOHN    AVII.SON    AND     SOX, 

"2,  School  Strekt. 


CD 


\i  t 


P  E  E  F  A  C  E. 


The  act  of  incorporation,  by  Avhicli  the  plantation  of  Nichewaug 
became  a  town,  bears  date  April  20,  1754.  The  day  chosen  for 
the  celebration  of  its  centennial  festival  was  not,  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, the  precise  anniversary  of  the  incorporation.  The  true 
day  falling  in  a  month  when  the  weather  is  quite  unsuitable  for 
out-of-door  rejoicings,  when  the  roads  are  usually  bad,  —  some- 
times hardly  passable,  —  and  when,  consequently,  access  to  the 
town  from  distant  places  would  be  attended  with  much  discomfort 
and  difficulty,  another  day  was  substituted  for  it. 

The  writer  of  the  following  Address  would  have  been  glad  to 
make  something  else  of  it,  which  should  have  been  of  more  per- 
manent value.  He  Avould  have  preferred  to  recast  and  expand  it 
into  the  form  of  a  somewhat  complete  Town  History.  But  he 
did  not  see  how  this  could  be  done  for  some  years  at  least ;  while 
he  did  see  that  the  present  publication  might  indirectly  serve  the 
same  purpose,  by  provoking  a  new  and  wider  interest  in  the 
town's  annals,  and  stimulating  curiosity  to  a  keener  search  after 
the  materials  from  which  a  more  complete  account  of  the  town 
could  be  made  at  some  future  day  by  some  other  hand. 

The  antiquarian  experiences  no  greater  difficulty  in  his  re- 
searches, than  that  of  making  the  inheritors  of  old  family  man- 
sions, and  attics  full  of  miscellaneous  papers  and  time-yellowed 


IV  PREFACI. 

MSS.,  believe  that  there  can  be  any  thing  of  biographical  or 
historical  value  among  their  neglected  stores.  They  will  not 
believe  that  an  old  almanac,  an  account-book,  a  letter,  an  occa- 
sional sermon,  a  newspaper  article,  a  political  handbill,  or  a  ballad 
once  sung  up  and  down  their  streets,  can  be  worthy  of  notice,  and 
are  too  often  reluctant  to  let  the  stranger  look  among  their 
"  rubbish,"  because  their  garrets  are  not  furnished  in  the  style  of 
a  parlor.  Indeed,  the  owner  of  the  garret  is  often  as  ignorant 
of  what  it  contains  as  the  strangest  stranger  can  be. 

The  following  pages  contain  the  record  of  many  facts.  It  is 
not  presumed  that  they  will  be  found  free  from  errors.  The 
writer  can  but  claim  to  have  spent  much  time,  and  exercised 
a  reasonable  care,  in  their  compilation.  And  even  his  error,  as 
well  as  his  truth,  shall  help  his  purpose,  if  it  cause  some  other  to 
come  after  him,  who  will  set  his  wrongs  right,  and  add  more  or 
fewer  to  the  facts  that  are  facts. 


ADDRESS. 


Citizens  of  Petersham,  — 

To  you  belong  these  lands  that  lie  around  us,  but 
not  wholly  to  you.  There  are  many  of  us  here,  who 
can  show  no  title  in  the  county  records  to  a  foot  of 
all  this  soil,  who,  nevertheless,  feel  that  we  have,  in 
some  sort,  a  property  and  an  interest  in  it  as  well  as 
you.  The  acres,  we  admit,  are  yours.  The  memories 
that  attach  to  them  are  ours  as  well.  We  have 
learned,  may  be,  to  call  other  places  home.  But,  up 
and  down  your  roadsides,  on  the  slopes  of  your  hills, 
and  by  your  streams,  we  see  the  homesteads  of  our 
fathers,  our  own  birth-places  perhaps,  the  play-places 
of  our  childhood.  We  identify,  very  likely,  the  spot 
where  we  were  schooled  in  "  manners  "  and  multipli- 
cation-table ;  and  that  to  which  we  went,  with  sobered 
step,  on  calm,  summer  sabbath-mornings  at  bell-ring- 
ing. We  find  here,  in  your  keeping,  those  sacred 
enclosures  which  the  ploughshare  never  enters,  where 
our  dead  and  yours  sleep.  All  around  us  are  objects 
which  awaken  reminiscences  and  associations  of  the 


profoundest  interest  to  us ;  objects  to  be  remembered 
as  long  as  we  remember  any  thing. 

In  all  these,  with  their  memories  and  histories,  we 
have  a  joint  inheritance  with  you.  Wherever  we 
have  been  scattered,  eastward,  westward,  northward, 
southward,  near  and  far,  we  have  remembered  these. 
We  could  not  forget  them.  This  ground  was  not  to 
us  as  other  ground.  You  will  believe,  then,  that  we 
heard  with  a  willing  ear,  and  not  without  a  thrill  of 
pleasure,  your  invitation  to  come  and  observe  with 
you  this  day  of  commemoration.  We  have  come. 
We  were  right  glad  to  come.  Our  hearts  go  out  to 
meet  your  welcome.  They  are  as  deeply  in  this  occa- 
sion as  yours.  We  shall  not  be  a  whit  behind  you  in 
the  zest  and  joyfulness  with  which  we  enter  on  the 
proceedings  of  this  our  common  festival. 

Friends,  who  have  come  from  beyond  these  bor- 
ders ;  natives  of  this  place ;  children  and  descendants 
of  the  native-born ;  you  who  have  married  wives  out 
of  these  houses,  or  whose  fathers  did ;  you  who  have 
sometime  dwelt  here,  tilling  these  fields  and  pasturing 
your  herds  on  these  hills ;  —  all  you  who  have  come 
hither  to-day,  because  you  cared  for  Petersham ; 
who  cared  for  the  place,  because  you  cared  for  some- 
thing that  it  contains  or  has  contained,  —  I  ha^e 
taken  upon  me  to  speak  in  your  behalf;  to  say  that 
you  have  come  in  full-hearted  gladness.  Your  num- 
bers, your  faces,  give  me  warrant  that  I  spoke  truth. 
Now,  in  behalf  of  those  who  dwell  here,  I  take  the 
liberty  to  repeat  their  welcome  to  you.  Welcome, 
all !  for  you  are  welcome.     See  it  in  the  open  doors, 


the  open  faces,  the  open  hands,  that  bespeak  the  open 
hearts  with  which  you  are  received  ! 

I  foresee  that  this  day  will  not  be  found  long 
enough  for  all  that  we  have  to  say  and  to  hear,  to  see 
and  to  do.  When  we  disperse,  it  will  be  to  leave 
many  intended  greetings  unspoken,  purposed  inquiries 
omitted ;  and  many  a  broken  thread  of  "  old  acquaint- 
ance," which  we  had  hoped  to  take  up  and  tie,  still 
hanging  loose  at  end.  I  desire,  therefore,  to  waste 
no  moments  of  these  precious  hours  —  of  which  there 
will  not  be  enough  —  in  superfluous  sentences  of 
introduction.  We  are  introduced  already.  The  occa- 
sion has  introduced  us  to  each  other  and  to  our  sub- 
ject. Some  of  us  may  have  been  strangers  to  one 
another  till  now.  But  stranger  is  a  word  of  which 
we  know  neither  use  nor  meaning  to-day.  As  little 
need  is  there  that  the  theme  of  the  hour  should  have 
formal  announcement.  But  one  theme  can  have  sug- 
gested itself  to  any  mind  as  the  topic  of  this  occasion. 
I  am  here,  not  to  choose  what  I  will  say,  but  to  say 
that  which  the  time  puts  into  my  mouth ;  that  which 
I  have  come  on  purpose  to  say,  and  you  as  expressly 
to  hear.  We  set  apart  this  day  to  a  special  use,  —  to 
one  special  use ;  to  commemorate  the  heginning  and  the 
history  of  this  town. 

For  this  time,  then,  we  will  assume,  if  you  please, 
the  Creation  of  the  world ;  take  the  Flood  for  granted  ; 
pass  by  the  Discovery  of  America  as  a  conceded  fact ; 
and  limit  ourselves  to  a  study  of  the  Chronicles  of 
Petersham. 


8 


This  town  had  not  its  beginning  in  an  act  of  incor- 
poration. It  had  begun  even  before  the  first  pioneer 
had  set  his  cabin  here,  or  turned  a  sod.  The  earliest 
settlers  of  these  parts  had  their  settlement  in  mind, 
before  they  had  it  as  a  fact  visible  to  the  eye.  That 
is  where  we  propose  to  begin,  —  in  the  minds  of  the 
founders.  We  cannot  but  be  curious  to  know  what 
put  it  into  the  minds  of  those  men  to  come  here  ;  to 
know  who  they  were ;  and  what  chance  or  providence 
turned  their  attention  and  their  feet  this  way. 

Let  us  fix  a  few  early  dates.  In  the  month  of 
January,  1731,  Old  Style  (by  the  New  Style,  '32), 
John  Bennet,  Jeremiah  Perley,  and  others,  petition 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for  a  grant  of 
this  tract  of  land,  on  which  to  plant  a  town.  Their 
suit  is  urged  on  the  score  of  services  rendered,  and 
hardships  undergone,  as  volunteers,  under  Captains 
Lovell  and  White,  in  the  Indian  wars.  The  Court 
taking  no  action  upon  their  petition,  it  is  renewed  in 
the  following  May,  with  a  like  result.  In  April, 
1733,  the  memorialists  present  themselves  a  third 
time,  respectfully  reminding  the  Court  of  their  former 
repeated  applications,  and  again  pressing  the  con- 
sideration of  their  case  upon  that  honorable  body. 
This  time  they  are  favorably  heard ;  and,  on  the  25th 
of  April,  1733,  Mr.  John  Bennet  is  empowered  by  the 
Court  to  convene  the  proprietors  of  the  plantation 
for  the  purposes  of  organization,  and  the  adoption  of 
needful  rules.* 

*  The  petitions  of  January  and  May,  '32,  are  lost.  That  of  April,  '33,  is  pre- 
seiTed;  and  it  is  from  it  that  we  learn  all  we  know  of  the  preceding  ones.     (See 


It  is  to  be  noticed,  that  these  petitioners  did  not 
ask,  in  general  form,  for  unappropriated  lands,  leaving 
it  to  the  Court  to  select  the  place ;  but  they  asked 
definitely  for  this  piece  of  territory,  designating  its 
extent  and  bounds  with  great  exactness.  The  pre- 
ference thus  manifested  for  this  spot  indicates  some 
previous  knowledge  of  it ;  a  knowledge  which  they 
must  have  come  by  either  from  report  or  from  per- 
sonal observation.  That  some,  perhaps  many,  of 
them  had  had  opportunities  to  see  and  traverse  these 
lands  is  probable.  Those  expeditions  into  the  Indian 
country,  on  which  they  founded  their  claim  for  land, 
had,  it  is  likely,  led  them  this  way,  and  made  them 
acquainted  with  the  locality  which  they  afterwards 
selected  for  their  plantation.  That  the  present  limits 
of  the  town  of  Petersham  were  crossed,  and  that  the 
tract  of  country  which  they  include  was,  to  some 
extent,  ranged  over,  by  English  scouting  parties,  sent 
to  look  for  Indians,  is  hardly  less  than  certain. 

What  has  been  designated  as  Lovell's  or  the  Three 
Years'  War  was  brought  to  a  close  in  the  early  part 
of  1726.  The  seats  of  the  hostile  Indians  then  lay  to 
the  north  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  in  what  is 
now  northern  New  England  and  Canada.  Such  was 
the  dread  entertained  by  the  English  of  the  sudden 
incursions  of  these  savages,  that  the  utmost  vigilance 


Appendix,  A),  The  grant  must  haye  been  made  by  the  General -Court  between  the 
5th  and  25th  of  April,  1733,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  time  when  the  petition 
was  presented,  with  the  date  and  phraseology  of  the  act  authorizing  the  calling  of  the 
proprietors'  meeting.  Of  the  grant  itself,  we  can  find  no  record ;  and  perhaps  it  is 
because  the  General  Court  of  1750  could  find  none,  that  they  then  formally  re-granted 
the  same  territory. 

2 


10 


was  used  to  keep  them  at  a  distance  from  their 
remotest  settlements.  Accordingly,  during  the  years 
1724  and  1725,  companies  of  forest  rangers,  consisting 
of  from  six  or  eight  to  ten  times  as  many  men,  were 
sent  out  almost  daily  from  the  frontier  towns,  to  scour 
the  country  back  of  those  towns,  and  keep  it  as  clear 
as  possible  of  their  wily  enemies.  The  frontier  towns 
in  this  direction  were,  at  that  time,  Brookfield,  Rut- 
land, Lancaster,  and  Lunenburgh  (then  called  Turkey 
Hills).  After  leaving  these  towns,  all  was  wild  and 
unsettled,  till  the  posts  along  the  Connecticut  River 
were  reached,  of  which  the  principal  ones  were  H  ad- 
ley,  Deerfield,  Northfield  (whose  Indian  name  was 
Squakheag),  and  Fort  Dummer,  at  or  near  the  site  of 
Rrattleborough,  Vermont. 

Through  these  woods  and  wilds,  scouting  parties 
were  kept  constantly  beating  and  searching  for  their 
foe.  We  can  trace  them  up,  in  some  instances,  from 
Rutland  and  Brookfield  to  the  Ware  and  Swift 
rivers,  and  across  the  country  between  Lancaster  and 
Lunenburgh  on  the  east,  and  Northfield  on  the  west.* 
It  was  probably  by  means  of  these  excursions  that 
some  of  the  original  proprietors  of  this  to^\Ti  became 
acquainted  with  these  places,  and  were  led,  then  or 
afterwards,  to  the  determination  to  seek  them  for  a 
plantation. 

The  petitioners  for  this  grant,  it  will  be  remembered, 

*  A  considerable  number  of  journals,  kept  by  the  commanders  of  these  scouting  par- 
ties during  these  marches,  are  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Some  of 
them  possess  an  interest  for  the  curious.  One,  detailing  tlic  march  of  a  party  from 
Turkey  Ilills,  in  January,  1725,  records  that  they  encamped  one  night  on  the  top  of 
Monadnock;  rather  a  bleak  bed-chamber,  one  would  think,  for  a  mid-winter's  night. 


11 


asked  it  as  a  consideration  for  services  rendered,  under 
Captains  John  Lovell  and  John  White,  in  the  Indian 
wars.  What  proprietors  of  this  town  rendered  ser- 
vices under  Captain  White,  of  Lancaster,  or  what  the 
particular  services  rendered  were,  it  is  out  of  my  power 
to  tell ;  *  but  we  have  the  means  of  identifying  above 
forty  of  the  seventy-one  proprietors  of  this  town,  as 
having  been  volunteers  under  the  famous  and  redoubt- 
able Captain  Lovell,  of  Dunstable,  on  the  last  but  one 
of  his  marches  into  the  Indian  country,  —  they  con- 
stituting about  three-fourths  of  his  whole  force.  This 
was  the  expedition  in  which  a  camp  of  ten  Indians 
was  surprised,  and  the  whole  number  exterminated. 
As  so  many  of  the  first  proprietors  of  this  town  were 
engaged  in  it,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  briefly  to 
relate  the  circumstances. 

In  answer  to  a  petition  of  Lovell  and  others,  for 
encouragement  to  hunt  Indians,  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts  had  oflered  a  bounty  of  £100  for  every 
Indian  scalp  which  should  be  brought  in.  Lovell, 
who  was  known  as  a  gallant  and  successful  warrior, 
had  no  difficulty  in  gathering  round  him  a  band  of 
resolute  men,  ready  to  share  with  him  the  dangers 
and  profits  of  Indian  hunting.  In  December,  17$4, 
his  party  had  brought  one  scalp  and  one  living  cap- 
tive, from  beyond  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  and  received 

*  Among  tbe  proprietors  are  named  "  the  heirs  of  Samuel  Mossman."  The  fol- 
lowing entry  appears  in  a  journal  kept  by  Captain  White,  during  an  expedition  into 
the  Indian  territory,  in  the  spring  of  1725:  — 

"  24  day  [April]  .  .  .  This  day,  Samll  Moosman  aetidently  kild  himself  with  his 
own  gun." 

"White  himself  had  served  under  Captain  Lovell,  and  went  out  to  bury  that  brave 
man  after  his  last  fatal  expedition  against  the  Pequawkets. 


12 


their  reward.  It  was  in  the  following  February,  that, 
having  increased  his  number  to  ninety  men  (though  it 
was  subsequently  reduced  to  sixty),  he  set  out  on 
another  excursion  to  the  same  region.  On  the  eastern 
side  of  the  lake,  they  came  upon  a  trail;  and,  just 
before  sunset  of  the  20th  of  February,  descried  a 
smoke,  which  indicated  an  encampment.  Taking 
extraordinary  precautions  to  prevent  discovery,*  they 
waited  in  silence  for  the  dead  of  night.  Then, 
stealthily  creeping  near,  they  discovered  the  forms  of 
ten  sleeping  Indians,  lying  round  a  camp  fire.  At 
the  first  shot,  seven  were  slain.  Two  of  the  remain- 
ing three  fell  the  same  instant  that  they  started  from 
their  sleep ;  and  the  last,  badly  wounded,  was  seized 
by  a  dog,  as  he  attempted  to  escape,  and  immediately 
killed.  Not  one  was  spared.f  The  pond  by  the  side 
of  which  this  tragedy  took  place  has  since  been  known 
as  Lo veil's  Pond.  It  is  situated  in  the  town  of  Wake- 
field, N.H.,  principally,  and  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
branches  of  the  Salmon  River. 

Thus,  after  a  short  absence,  the  hunters  returned  to 
Boston,  with  their  ten  scalps  stretched  over  hoops,  and 
received,  besides  their  regular  daily  pay  of  two  shil- 
lings and  sixpence,  £1000  in  prize-money.:}: 


*  They  made  no  fire  to  cook  their  supper,  lest  the  smoke  should  betray  them ;  and 
muzzled  their  dogs,  to  prevent  their  barking.  During  the  day  preceding  the  attack, 
they  were  near  enough  to  the  Indians  to  watch  their  motions,  and  to  perceive  that 
they  were  hunting  beaver  and  other  game. 

f  They  were  found  to  be  provided  with  extra  snow-shoes,  moccasons,  blankets,  and 
other  equipments,  which  they  were  supposed  to  have  brought  along  with  them  for  the 
use  of  captives.  These  preparations  indicated  an  intended  attack  on  some  settlement, 
probably  Cocheco  [Dover]. 

\  Appendix  B. 


13 


It  is  not  surprising  that  the  result  of  this  expedition 
should  have  been  to  set  on  foot  another  similar  one 
very  soon  after.  In  April,  Lovell  was  again  on  the 
march  for  the  territory  of  the  Pequawkets,  at  the  head 
of  forty-six  men.  The  melancholy  termination  of  this 
expedition  has  been  celebrated  in  verse,  described  in 
graphic  narrative,  and  recounted  at  a  thousand  win- 
ter firesides,  where  harking  ears  and  horror-frozen 
hearts  have  attested  the  deep  interest  which  the  bloody 
tale  excited.  It  was  fatal  to  the  daring  adventurer 
with  whose  name  the  early  history  of  this  town  has 
become  associated. 

It  is  not  much  that  we  know  of  the  personal  his- 
tory of  the  men  who  planted  this  settlement.  Whit- 
ney* says  they  had  among  them  enough  who  were 
wealthy  and  enterprising  to  give  the  plantation  a 
good  start,  and  an  encouraging  growth  in  the  years  of 
its  infancy.  The  General  Court  made  it  a  condition 
in  their  grant,  that  the  grantees  should  either  settle 
on  their  lands  themselves,  or  send  some  of  their 
descendants  to  occupy  them.  This  condition,  it  is 
evident,  was  not  very  strictly  complied  with.  But 
few  of  the  original  proprietors  actually  took  up  their 
residence  here ;  and,  in  numerous  instances,  they  sold, 
at  an  early  day,  the  lots  which  they  had  drawn  in,  the 
to^vnship.  Many  of  them,  however,  who  had  already 
their  homesteads  in  other  and  distant  places,  probably 
endowed  marrying  daughters,  or  sons  arriving  at  man- 
hood, -with  these  uncultivated  estates.     This  desire  to 

*  Rev.  Peter  Whitney;   History  of  Worcester  County. 


14 


give  an  outfit  to  man-grown  sons,  and  daughters  of 
marriageable  age,  it  was,  doubtless,  which  brought 
many  petitioners  for  land-grants  before  the  Legislature, 
in  almost  every  one  of  those  years.  Fortunate  they 
were  who  could  urge  past  services  to  the  State  as  a 
ground  for  their  claims.  The  petitioners  had  no  more 
land  than  they  wanted  for  themselves,  while  the  State 
had  wild  lands,  unoccupied,  in  plenty.  Money  they 
had  not  —  much ;  but  they  were  rich  in  children,  to 
whom,  as  was  natural,  they  washed  to  give  a  portion 
of  worldly  goods,  as  the  one  sex  should  arrive  at 
majority,  and  the  other  enter  the  state  of  wedlock. 
Here  was  a  way  by  which  the  ambition  which  their 
children  had  inherited  from  them,  to  become  large 
landholders,  might  be  gratified  without  cost.  It  was 
well  for  the  State.  It  was  well  for  themselves.  It 
w^as  well  for  their  children. 

The  proprietors  of  this  place  lived  somewhat  widely 
scattered ;    though  they  w^ere  chiefly  inhabitants   of 
the  north  and  west  part  of  Middlesex  County,  and  the' 
north   and   east   part  of  the    county  of   "Worcester. 
Lancaster  contained,  by  considerable,  a  larger  number 
of  them  than  any  other  town.     Samuel  Willard,  John 
Bennett,    John   White ;     the    Houghtons,  —  Jonas, 
Ephraini,  James,  Edward,  Stephen,  and  Daniel ;  tiie 
Willsons,  —  Jonathan  and  Joseph  ;   the  Whitcombs, 
—  Joseph  and  David  ;   the   Sawyers,  —  John,  Ezra, 
and  Samuel ;  John  Goss,  Fairbank  Moor,  John  AVil- 
:lcr,  Moses  Chandler,  and  probably  others,  were  of 
Lancaster.     Tlie  Perleys,  —  Jeremiah  and  Jacob,  — 
were  of  Boxford.     Tlie   Farnswortlis  and  (sometime) 


15 


the  Athertons  were  of  Harvard.  Benoni  Boyenton, 
Edward  Hartwell,  and  Joshua  Hutchins,  belonged  to 
Lunenburgh ;  Jonathan  Parling  and  John  Barker, 
to  Concord.  Tarbell,  Spalding,  and  Shattuck  were 
probably  of  Groton.  John  Yarnum  and  Henry  Col- 
burn  lived  in  Dracut  ;  Moses  Hazzen  and  Abiel 
Foster,  in  Haverhill.  Farmer,  Walker,  and  Stickney 
were  probably  of  Billerica.  Jonas  Adams  was  of 
Hassanamisco  [Grafton].  Aaron  Eice  and  Samuel 
Brown  were  of  Rutland.  Others  lived  in  Sudbury, 
Worcester,  Amesbury,  Exeter,  N.H.,  Bedford,  Chelms- 
ford, and  other  places.  Probably  not  a  dozen  of  all 
the  original  proprietors  ever  came  here  to  live.*  In 
a  report  made  by  the  proprietors  to  the  General  Court, 
of  the  state  of  the  plantation,  at  the  end  of  the  year 
1750,  the  names  of  forty-seven  of  the  sixty-one  fami- 
lies then  actually  settled  in  town  are  given ;  and, 
of  the  whole  forty-seven,  the  name  of  Joseph  Will- 
son  alone  appears  on  the  list  of  the  first  proprie- 
tors."!* 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  grant  of  this  terri- 
tory, for  a  settlement,  was  made  in  April,  1733.  The 
first  proprietors'  meeting  was  held  on  the  tenth  of  the 
following   month  ;    and   measures  w^ere  immediately 


*  As,  by  the  conditions  of  the  grant,  there  were  only  sixty  families  required  to  be 
settled  on  the  granted  territory  within  three  years,  and  there  were  some  seventy-two 
proprietors,  the  privilege  of  postponing  actual  settlement  beyond  the  term  of  three 
years  was  conferred  on  such  twelve  of  them  as  would  pay  the  largest  consideration 
for  the  same  into  the  proprietors'  treasury. 

t  See  Appendix  C. 


16 


taken  to  commence  the  partition  of  the  land  among 
the  proprietors.* 

It  is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty  where  the 
first  dwelling  was  erected,  or  by  whom,  or  at  exactly 
what  time.  It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture,  however, 
that  several  settlers  came  together,  or  nearly  together, 
to  make  their  homes  here.  I  know  no  reason  to 
think  that  any  settlement  had  been  made  before  the 
grant ;  and  probably,  as  soon  as  the  allotment  of  lands 
had  taken  place,  not  one  alone,  but  several,  came,  with- 
out loss  of  time,  to  begin  their  clearing  and  building. 
The  first  division  of  land,  for  home  or  house-lots, 
was  made  in  1733 ;  and,  it  is  likely,  made  so  early  in 
the  year,  that  improvements  were  begun  before  the 
winter  following.  A  tradition  exists,  that  Joseph 
Willson  built  the  first  house  in  town,  near  the  pre- 
sent residence  of  Mr.  David  C.  Page ;  and  I  believe 
the  tradition  sometimes  adds  that  he  was  the  first 
white  man  who  spent  a  winter  here.  If  Mr.  kSimeon 
Houghton,  who  settled  on  what  is  known  as  the 
Charles  Wilder  Place,  was  not  here  as  early  as  Mr. 
Willson,  he  certainly  was  not  much  behind  him. 
And,  if  Mr.  Willson  did  really  precede  Mr.  Ploughton, 
there  is  traditional  evidence  that  Mrs.  Houghton  was 
not  preceded  by  Mrs.  Willson,  or  by  any  other  of  her 
own  sex  in  the  new  settlement. f     The  tradition  runs, 

♦  This  first  meeting  was  held  in  Lancaster,  at  the  inn  of  Thomas  Carter.  Samuel 
Willard  was  chosen  moderator,  and  William  Lawrence,  clerk.  A  Committee  was 
chosen  to  lay  out  to  each  proprietor  fifty  acres,  for  a  first  allotment,  with  authority 
"  to  make  up  in  quantity  each  proprietor's  lot  in  quality,  so  that  each  proprietor  may 
draw  for  his  lot."  —  Proprietors'  Records. 

t  While  this  address  was  in  the  course  of  preparation,  and  after  this  paragraph 
was  written,  the  writer  received  a  communication  from  Jared  Weed,  Esq.,  who  ha» 


17 


that  Madame  Houghton,  albeit  not  the  possessor  of 
a  well-favored  countenance,  was  gifted  with  a  genial 
disposition ;  and  that  she  used  to  say,  in  the  post 
meridiem  of  her  life,  shaking  her  head  significantly 
at  the  fairest  of  the  maidens  around  her,  "  Take  no 
airs :  I'd  have  you  know,  that  the  time  was  when  I 
was  acknowledged,  without  dispute,  to  be  the  hand- 
somest woman  in  the  town ;  "  —  that  time  having 
been  when  there  was  yet  no  woman  in  the  town 
besides  Mrs.  Houghton  herself 

This  settlement,  occasionally  called,  in  old  records 
and  papers,  VolunteerstowTi  (or,  in  abbreviated  form, 
Yolunto\\Ti),  because  granted  to  volunteers,  was  almost 
universally  known,  from  its  settlement  to  its  incorpo- 
ration in  1754,  by  the  name  of  Nichewaug,  —  a  name 
as  variously  spelled  as  the  fancy,  caprice,  or  ortho- 
graphical vagary  of  the  writer  happened  to  dictate.* 
This  was  the  Indian  name  of  the  place.     There  had 


devoted  much  attention  and  given  much  research  to  the  antiquities  of  this  town,  and 
has  presented,  by  lectures  and  newspaper  articles,  much  curious  and  valuable  infor- 
mation to  the  public  thereupon.  Mr.  Weed  thinks  that  Mr.  Willson  came  here  and 
planted  himself  as  early  as  the  autumn  of  1731.  This  opinion  he  bases  upon  the  tes- 
timony of  tradition.  If  this  tradition  were  true,  it  would  seem  somewhat  surprising 
that  the  earliest  proprietors'  records  should  not  contain  some  incidental  mention  of  a 
settlement,  or  settler's  claim,  already  existing.  It  would  seem  not  unlikely,  that  the 
Legislature,  in  voting  the  grant,  would  make  some  allusion  to  such  an  occupant  or 
occupancy  of  the  territory  they  were  ceding.  There  is  nothing  in  the  proprietors' 
records,  or  in  the  action  of  the  Legislature  (unless  it  has  escaped  my  notice),  which 
indicates  that  the  whole  tract  described  was  not  clear  of  incumbrance  at  the  time  of 
the  grant.  Mr.  Willson  appears  to  have  drawn  his  share  or  division  of  land  by  lot 
among  the  rest,  in  1733;  and  nothing  appears  to  show  that  he  previously  abandoned 
any  claim  he  had  before  made. 

*  Nichawogg,  Nichewoag,  Nichewagg,  Nicherwagg,  Nichawoge,  Nitchewoage,  and 
Nitchawog  may  all  be  recognized  as  variations  of  one  name;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
see  how  Nepeschoge,  or  Nepeschoage,  as  the  name  was  sometimes  written,  could 
have  been  so  pronounced  that  its  kinship  to  the  family  above  described  would  be 
recognized. 

3 


18 


been  an  Indian  hamlet  or  settlement  here  before  the 
English  came,  of  which  traces  remained  at  the  period 
of  their  coming.  According  to  tradition,  this  Indian 
settlement  was  mostly  about  the  hill  on  which  now 
stands  the  dwelling-house  of  Mr.  Thomas  How,  which 
hill  also  bore  the  name  of  Nichewaug  Hill.  To  con- 
ciliate and  satisfy  such  Indians  as  claimed  that  they 
had  rights  and  interests  in  these  lands,  the  settlers 
paid  them  for  the  relinquishment  of  their  claims ;  a 
prudent  measure,  which  afterwards  saved  them  from 
serious  annoyance,  if  not  from  positive  danger. 

Let  us  now  suppose  the  settlement  fairly  begun. 
Let  us  take  our  stand  here  in  the  spring  of  1734. 
The  sons,  and  the  husbands  of  the  daughters,  and 
those  hoping  to  be  husbands  to  the  daughters,  of  the 
proprietors,  have  come,  as  early  as  the  opening  of 
the  spring  would  permit,  to  begin  their  labors,  or  to 
resume  labors  begun  the  autumn  past.  A  portion 
have  come  from  the  more  northern  to^\Tis,  along  the 
northern  side  of  the  Wachusett,  following  a  mere 
bridle-path  through  the  woods,  and  doubtless  bad 
enough  at  that.  Another  portion,  from  the  more 
southern  towns,  have  travelled  up  along  another  path, 
not  much  better,  though  a  cart-path,  leading  through 
the  woods,  from  Rutland.  From  Lancaster,  the  place 
at  which  the  emigrants  would  chiefly  rendezvous,  as 
the  last  point  of  departure  for  the  new  settlement, 
there  are  two  paths,  —  that  first  mentioned,  as  skirt- 
ing the  Wachusett  on  the  north,  and  another  wind- 
ing around  its  southern  base,  —  the  two  uniting  about 


19 


five  miles  east  of  here,  near  what  is  known  as  Burnt 
Shirt  River.  Some  have  come  by  one,  some  by  the 
other  route ;  the  length  and  practicability  of  the  two 
ways  being  about  the  same.  With  the  exception  of  a 
handful  of  settlers,  just  beginning  a  plantation  at 
Lambstown  (whose  present  name  is  Hardwick),  these 
of  Nichewaug  have  no  nearer  neighbors  than  the 
inhabitants  of  Rutland ;  and,  after  them,  none  within 
shorter  distance  than  Brookfield  at  the  south,  and 
Lancaster  and  Lunen burgh  on  the  east.  On  the  west 
side,  they  scarcely  calculate  distances,  as  their  com- 
munication is  to  be  almost  wholly  with  the  towns 
lying  to  the  east.  Between  them  and  the  towns  west 
of  them,  their  intercourse  will  be  for  years  quite  infre- 
quent.* 

Some  idea  of  the  state  of  the  roads,  or  rather  paths, 
which  the  pioneers  in  this  settlement  had  to  travel,  as 
they  came  and  went,  at  first,  between  their  new  clear- 
ings here  in  the  wilderness,  and  the  old  homesteads 


*  About  this  time,  a  road  was  laid  out  through  this  township,  from  Lancaster  to 
Sunderland,  on  the  Connecticut  River,  which  was  said  to  open  a  shorter  way  than  any- 
other  between  Boston  and  the  Connecticut.  Being  very  hilly,  however,  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  become  much  of  a  thoroughfare  till  its  location  was  changed  in  part. 
The  plan  of  this  road  was  reported  to  the  Legislature  in  1733.  It  was  to  run  from 
Lancaster,  across  Nashua  Kiver,  to  Wachusett  Pond,  a  little  north  of  Wachusett  Hill, 
eleven  miles;  thence  through  the  northern  part  of  Rutland  (now  Hubbardston),  to 
the  centre  of  the  "Volunteers'  Township,"  fourteen  miles;  thence  to  Sunderland, 
twenty-three  miles,  passing  through  no  township  ;  making  the  distance  from  Lan- 
caster to  Sunderland  forty-eight  miles.  The  town  of  Shutesbury,  for  a  time  called 
"  Roadtown,"  was  a  grant  to  the  makers  of  this  road,  as  a  consideration  for  their 
service.  A  lot  of  land  laid  out  to  Samuel  Sawyer,  lying  in  the  south-westerly  part  of 
Nicherwagg,  is  represented  as  being  on  the  road  to  Roadtown. 

At  a  later  period,  there  was  much  travel  through  this  town,  from  south-east  to 
north-west;  it  being  situated  on  one  principal  line  of  communication  between  the  forts 
on  Lake  Champlain,  "No.  4  "  in  New  Hampshire  (Charlestown),  and  other  towns  in 
that  direction,  on  the  one  side,  and  south-eastern  New  England  on  the  other. 


20 


which  they  had  left  in  Lancaster,  Groton,  and  other 
places,  —  may  be  given,  by  quoting  an  extract  from  a 
vote  of  the  proprietors  relating  to  the  improvement 
of  one  of  these  ways. 

It  was  on  the  12th  of  September,  1734,  that  the 
proprietors  voted  to  give  to  Captain  Jonas  Houghton, 
both  valuable  privileges  as  a  proprietor,  and  a  sum  of 
money  out  of  the  treasury,  "  for  making  the  road  so 
feasible,  —  from  Lancaster,  along  on  the  north  side 
Wachusett,  to  the  meeting  of  the  other  path,  that 
goes  from  [the]  aforesaid  Lancaster,  along  on  the 
south  side  Wachusett,  —  as  to  carry  comfortably, 
with  four  oxen,  four  barrels  of  cider  at  once."  This 
vote  not  only  gives  us  an  idea  of  what  was  then  con- 
sidered a  "  feasible  "  road,  but,  in  the  standard  adopted 
by  which  to  determine  its  feasibility,  indicates  with 
what  product  of  the  older  settlements  the  carts  which 
travelled  thence  to  the  new  went  chiefly  laden.  The 
forests  of  Nichewaug  could  furnish  shelter  and  fuel 
to  the  new-comer,  and  her  generous  fields  could  give 
him  bread.  But,  with  all,  there  was  one  deficiency, 
as  our  fathers  deemed,  without  which  the  winter 
hearth  must  remain  cheerless,  and  the  arm  of  out-door 
labor  lose  its  nerve  and  vigor.  That  deficiency  they 
looked  to  the  old  orchards  of  Lancaster  and  ^Nliddle- 
sex  to  supply. 

Grist  and  saw-mills  the  settlers  would  need  at  once. 
No  time  was  lost  in  constructing  both.  Mr.  Jona- 
than Prescott,  of  Littleton,  built  the  grist-mill,  receiv- 
ing one  hundred  acres  of  land,  on  the  east  side  of 
Sherman   Hill,   as  a  compensation.     Messrs.   Joseph 


21 


Whitcomb,  Jonathan  Houghton,  and  Daniel  Hough- 
ton, built,  or  caused  to  be  built,  the  saw-mill,  binding 
themselves  to  keep  it  in  repair  for  ten  years ;  and,  for 
the  same  length  of  time,  to  sell  good  pitch-pine  boards 
for  forty  shillings  a  thousand,  or  to  saAV  "  to  the 
halves  "  for  all  persons  who  should  bring  logs  to  their 
mill.  They  received,  as  a  consideration,  eighty  acres 
of  land  adjoining  the  mill-privilege,  and  lying  between 
that  and  Prescott's.  As  both  pieces  of  land  were  in 
Prescott's  possession  at  the  time  they  were  surveyed, 
in  1738,  it  is  likely  that  he  was  employed  to  build 
the  saw-mill  as  well  as  the  grist-mill.  These  first 
mills  were  probably  at  or  near  the  place  more  recently 
known  as  that  of  the  Reed  Mills.  There  were  other 
mills  in  town,  however,  at  a  very  early  period  in  the 
town's  history.* 

No  event  of  much  importance  occurred  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  new  plantation  between  the  time  of  its 
settlement  and  that  of  its  incorporation,  with  the 
exception  of  those  growing  out  of  the  war  between 
France  and  England,  known  in  this  country  as  King 
George's  War.  Previously  to  the  war,  it  had  only 
those  difficulties  and  discouragements  to  struggle  with 
which  are  common  to  all  new  settlements ;  the  most 


*  Proprietors'  Records.  Mill-building  would  seem  to  Lave  run  in  the  Prescott 
family.  Butter's  History  of  Groton  gives  an  account  of  John,  the  first  of  the  name 
in  America,  who  came  to  Massachusetts  about  the  year  1640,  and  soon  after  settled  at 
Nashua  [Lancaster].  "  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  occupation,  and  was  also  a  builder  of 
mills."  His  sons  were  John,  Jonathan,  and  Jonas.  "Jonas,  or  his  father  for  him, 
built  the  mill  in  the  south  part  of  Lancaster,  now  within  the  limits  of  Harvard."  .  .  , 
"  He  also  built  mills  at  Forge  village,  now  in  Westford,  but  then  in  Groton."  It  is 
not  in  my  power  to  connect  our  Jonathan  Prescott,  of  Littleton,  with  the  John  and 
Jonas  above;  but  he  was  undoubtedly  of  them. 


22 


dangerous  enemies  being  found  in  rattlesnakes  and 
wolves,  of  which  the  tails  of  the  former,  and  the  heads 
of  the  latter,  became  trophies,  and  sometimes  the 
sources  of  profit,  to  the  hunter.  But,  upon  the  break- 
ing out  of  hostilities  in  1744,  all  the  horrors  of  Indian 
warfare  arose  again  in  prospect ;  and  this,  as  one  of 
the  outposts,  and  therefore  one  of  the  most  exposed 
stations  held  by  the  English,  was  obliged  to  protect 
itself  by  such  defences  as  it  could.  Many  of  the 
houses  were  fortified.*  The  inhabitants  took  down 
their  guns  again,  and  carried  them  with  them  wher- 
ever they  went,  —  to  their  work-fields,  to  mill,  and  to 
church.  Scouting  parties  were  kept  scouring  the 
woods.  Mothers  put  their  babes  to  bed  in  fear; 
and  men  went  their  ways,  not  with  the  easy  unconcern 
of  conscious  security,  but  with  the  careful  step  and 
the  circumspect  air  of  men  who  think  that  danger 
may  be  lurking  by  their  path. 

A  MS.  letter  of  Colonel  Samuel  Willard  to  Gover- 
nor Phipps  and  his  Council,  written  in  the  early  part 
of  the  summer  of  1748,"|*  represents  that  Nichewog, 
New  Rutland  [Barrel],  Narragansett  No.  2  [West- 
minster], Leominster,  Luninburgh,  and  Groton  West 
Precinct  [Pepperell],  were  in  a  state  of  much  distress 
on  account   of  the  Indians.     These  towns,  he   says. 


*  Whitney.  There  are  traditions  of  some  of  these  fortified  houses.  One  was  the 
tavern,  kept  first  by  Jonas  Farnsworth,  and  afterwards  by  Kenelm  Winslow  and  oth- 
ers, at  the  place  beneath  the  great  elm  where  Silas  Foster's  public-house  stood,  and 
was  burnt.  Another  was  in  the  east  part  of  the  town,  at  the  Charles  AVilder  Place; 
another,  at  what  is  called  the  Willis  Place,  a  little  to  the  south  or  south-east  of  the 
dwelling  of  David  Wheeler.     And  there  were  others. 

f  Preserved  in  the  State  archives. 


23 


"  will  not  be  able  to  do  their  harvest,  and  to  get  their 
hay,  without  some  relief;  there  being  but  sixty- two 
soldiers  allowed,  and  nineteen  men  for  town-scouts, 
to  the  towns  above  mentioned,  which  is  by  no  means 
sufficient  to  guard  them."  The  towns  named  by 
Colonel  Willard  were  six  in  number ;  consequently, 
the  average  number  of  soldiers  to  each  was  only  ten 
and  a  fraction.  Ten  men  appear  to  have  been  assigned 
to  Nichewaug  in  March  of  the  preceding  year,  how- 
ever, by  the  Governor  and  Council. 

The  response  to  Colonel  Willard's  letter  was  the 
appointment  of  fifty-eight  men,  to  be  apportioned 
among  the  six  towns  whose  necessitous  condition  he 
had  represented,  Townshend  being  added ;  eight,  that 
is,  to  each.  These  men,  says  the  Governor,  are  "  prin- 
cipally for  guarding  those  inhabitants  that  may  be 
exposed  to  the  enemy  in  getting  in  their  harvest  of 
hay  and  English  grain."  And  he  adds  these  instruc- 
tions :  "  You  must  take  especial  care  that  the  inhabi- 
tants that  shall  have  the  benefit  of  these  men  work 
and  assist  one  another  in  getting  in  their  harvest,  — 
one  day  in  one  man's  field,  and  another  day  in  another, 
till  their  harvest  be  got  in ;  the  soldiers  to  be  wholly 
employed  in  guarding,  and  not  allowed  to  be  taken 
off"  from  guarding,  by  w^orking  w4th  the  inhabitants. 
And  you  must  give  the  command  of  each  party  to 
some  solid  man ;  and  they  must  be  so  quartered  as 
that  they  may  without  danger,  and  without  loss  of 
time,  get  together  for  guarding  the  inhabitants  upon 
their  first  going  out  to  their  work."  So  the  haying 
and  harvesting  were  done  in  these  fields,  during  that 


24 


summer,  a  hundred  and  six  years  ago,  under  a  mili- 
tary guard  of  twenty  men. 

It  was  perhaps  owing  quite  as  much  to  the  pru- 
dence that  dictated  the  purchase  of  this  tract  from  the 
Indians,  as  to  the  measures  taken  to  protect  it  by  garri- 
sons and  soldiers,  that  this  plantation  did  not  actually 
suffer  from  any  attack  or  depredations  during  the  war. 
Other  places  in  the  vicinity  did  not  w^holly  escape. 
In  Payquage  [Athol],  which  was  not  without  its 
defences,  one  man  was  killed,  and  another  was  taken 
and  carried  into  captivity.* 

After  the  close  of  the  war  in  1748,  the  settlement 
went  on  prosperously  till  1754,  when  it  had  grown  to 
a  size  and  attained  a  ^^osition  entitling  it  to  incorpo- 
ration. The  interval  between  the  beginning  of  the 
settlement  and  the  incorporation,  we  thus  see,  had 
been  about  twenty  years. 

I  have  made  no  reference  yet  to  the  ecclesiastical 
affairs  of  the  town  ;  not,  however,  for  the  reason  that 
the  founders  of  this  town  did  not  think  of  such  mat- 
ters, or  that  they  neglected  to   make   provision  for 


*  It  is  supposed  that  no  record  was  made  of  the  transfer  of  this  land  from  the 
aboriginal  possessors  to  the  English.  At  least,  none  such  has  been  found.  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  Indians  were  in  this  manner  satisfied,  and  that 
thej'  voluntarily  relinquished  all  claim  to  proprietorship  in  this  tract  of  country. 
Tradition  tells  that  a  scc.uting  party,  of  whom  Captain  Joseph  Stevens  was  une, 
found  themselves  one  day,  after  a  long  march,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Payquage. 
They  had  seen  no  Indians,  and  were  resting  without  a  suspicion  that  any  were  in  the 
neighborhood.  During  their  halt,  they  amused  themselves  by  shooting  at  a  mark, 
the  "  mark  "  being  an  old  hat  of  Mr.  Stevens.  It  was  afterwards  ascertained  that 
there  were  Indians  lying  near  them  at  the  time,  who  were  spectators  of  the  whole 
sport,  though  unseen  themselves.  The  tradition  adds,  that  the  same  partj'  of  Indians 
made  an  attack  on  Payquage.  AVhen  asked  why  the}'  did  not  molest  the  scouting 
party  from  Niche waug,  they  said,  because  the  settlers  at  Niehewaug  had  paid  for 
their  land. 


25 


worship  and  religious  instruction.  The  children  of 
the  Pilgrims  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  living  in 
houses  of  pasteboard  themselves,  as  of  constructing  a 
State,  or  gathering  the  smallest  community,  without 
founding  it  on  the  faith  and  worship  of  their  fathers. 
They  only  waited  for  the  report  of  their  Surveying 
Committee,  to  learn  what  lands  had  been  reserved 
for  a  meeting-house  lot  and  common,  before  proceed- 
ing to  erect  a  house  of  worship.  It  was  at  the  second 
meeting  of  the  proprietors,  held  at  Groton  in  the  fall 
of  1733,  that  the  vote  to  build  was  passed. 

In  connection  with  this  vote,  the  proprietors  in- 
structed the  Building  Committee  "  to  take  care  that 
the  meeting-house  aforesaid  be,  as  soon  as  [it]  can 
with  convenience,  built ;  viz.,  so  far  as  to  finish  the 
outside,  and  lay  the  lower  floor,  workmanlike." 
When  so  far  finished,  it  would  do,  I  suppose,  for  pro- 
prietors' meetings,  and  as  a  place  of  worship.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  whether  this  house  was  ever  con- 
sidered finished. 

In  December,  1735,  an  appropriation  was  made  by 
the  proprietors  to  meet  the  charges  the  Committee 
had  been  at  in  raising  and  shingling  the  meeting- 
house ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  vote  was  passed  "  to 
proceed  further  in  finishing  the  meeting-house ;  and 
that  the  former  Committee  about  the  meeting-house 
do  build  the  pulpit  and  deacon('s)  seat  and  the  minis- 
ter's pew  in  said  meeting-house,  as  soon  as  can  be 
conveniently."  The  next  spring,  the  house  was  pro- 
bably so  far  advanced  that  it  could  be  used  for  Sunday 
worship,  as  we  find  that  they  began  to  have  preaching 


26 


at  that  time.  But,  two  years  later  than  this,  the  vote 
to  build  pulpit,  deacon's  seat,  and  pew  for  the  minis- 
ter, had  not  been  carried  into  effect ;  for,  on  the  21st 
of  June,  1738,  it  was  again  voted  to  build  these,  and, 
besides,  "  to  ceil  said  meeting-house  as  high  as  the 
lower  windows,  and  to  case  the  lower  windows,  and 
build  the  body  of  seats."  At  this  time  also,  £3.  10s. 
were  voted  to  Thomas  Dick  "  for  coloring  the  meet- 
ing-house." This  coloring,  if  it  extended  to  any  part 
of  the  outside,  was  probably  a  mere  striping  of  the 
corner-boards,  and  door  and  window-casings,  with  a 
line  running  just  beneath  the  eaves,  and  another  just 
above  the  sill,  lengthwise  the  house.  In  September 
of  the  same  year,  the  Committee  who  had  been  directed 
to  ceil  the  meeting-house  up  to  the  window-casings, 
by  an  extension  of  power,  were  authorized  to  carry 
the  ceiling  "  as  high  as  the  gurts."  And,  on  the  2d 
of  March,  '39,  the  deacons  were  instructed  to  buy  a 
"  decent  cushion  for  the  pulpit." 

In  a  warrant  for  a  proprietors'  meeting,  to  be  held 
in  October,  1740,  was  an  article  "to  see  if  the  pro- 
prietors will  proceed  to  finish  the  meeting-house." 
The  proprietors  refused  to  act  on  the  article.  In 
March  of  the  following  year,  they  did,  however,  vote 
to  proceed  to  finish  the  meeting-house ;  and,  six 
months  after,  Reuben  Stone  was  paid  "  in  full,  for 
building  one  pew  and  a  body  of  seats,  and  for  setting 
up  two  pillars  in  the  meeting-house." 

March  10,  1743,  Mr.  Bennet  was  released  from 
service  as  one  of  the  Committee  "  for  finishing  ^^a/*^ 
of  the  meeting-house,  by  reason  of  his  being  at  a  dis- 


27 


tance ;  and  Mr.  James  Clemence  M^as  made  his  substi- 
tute." 

December  13,  '43,  "voted  to  proceed  in  finishing 
the  meeting-house,  and  to  choose  a  Committee  for  the 
same."  This  Committee  was  soon  after  directed  "  to 
lath  and  plaster  said  meeting-house  overhead,  and 
also  to  whitewash  the  same." 

On  the  16th  of  March,  '47  (about  thirteen  years 
after  it  was  begun),  a  vote  was  passed  to  discharge 
the  Committee  chosen  "  for  finishing  the  meeting- 
house ; "  and,  at  the  end  of  that  year,  it  was  "  voted 
to  buy  a  plush  cushing  for  the  meeting-house,"  and 
"  that  Samuel  Willard,  Esq.,  do  provide  the  cushing 
aforesaid."  The  purchase  of  this  plush  cushion  may 
perhaps  be  taken  as  the  last  act  of  that  somewhat  pro- 
longed and  arduous  enterprise,  —  the  finishing  of  the 
meeting-house ;  though  we  find,  within  three  months, 
that  repairs  had  become  necessary,  and  Lieutenant 
Stone  was  set  to  provide  latches  for  the  doors,  as  well 
as  to  repair  the  outside  of  the  building. 

This  first  meeting-house  is  still  remembered  by  a 
few  of  your  oldest  citizens.  It  stood  immediately 
opposite  to  the  gateway  of  the  burying-ground,  leaving 
a  passage  of  perhaps  twenty  feet  in  width  between  its 
eastern  end  and  the  front  line  of  that  yard.  It  was 
fifty  feet  long  from  east  to  west,  forty  feet  wide,  and 
"  twenty-one  feet  stud."  Its  front  door  was  on  the 
southern  side ;  the  pulpit,  on  the  northern.  It  was 
without  spire,  and  unpainted,  with  windows  of  small, 
diamond-shaped  glass,  set  in  lead.     The  stairs  leading 


28 


to  the  gallery  were  within  the  house,  ascending  from 
the  south-east  and  south-west  comers. 

When  built,  there  appears  to  have  been,  at  first, 
but  one  pew,  set  up  at  the  expense  of  the  proprietors, 
in  the  whole  house ;  viz.,  that  for  the  minister,  which 
stood  close  to  the  front  door,  on  the  wall,  at  the  right 
hand  as  you  entered.  About  the  year  1745,  a  tier  of 
pews  was  erected  quite  around  the  wall  of  the  house, 
consisting  of  eighteen  in  all.  These  were  built  and 
occupied  by  persons  of  largest  estate  and  principal 
consideration  in  the  place.  The  space  within  this 
circling  range  of  pews  on  the  outside  was  filled  up 
with  ranges  of  long  and  common  seats,  on  which  the 
inhabitants  generally  had  permanent  places  assigned 
to  them ;  the  more  eligible  seats  being  accorded  to 
the  more  wealthy  and  influential,  with  the  sole  excep- 
tion that  "  some  regard "  was  had  to  age.  Men  and 
women  sat  on  opposite  sides  of  the  house.  This 
assignment  of  seats  was  called  "  seating  the  meeting- 
house ;  "  a  delicate  and  important  duty,  to  be  repeated 
every  few  years,  and  which  could  seldom  be  done 
without  creating  some  jealousies.  The  seats  first 
appropriated  exclusively  to  a  choir  were  the  two  hind 
body  seats,  on  the  lower  floor,  on  the  men's  side  of  the 
house,  —  that  was  the  west  side.  But  earlier  than 
that,  before  .there  was  choir  or  chorister,  one  of  the 
deacons,  from  his  seat  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  "  dea- 
coned "  the  hymn,  and  then  led  the  congregation  in 
singing  it.  An  old  gentleman,  recently  deceased,  told 
me  that  he  could  well  remember  when  Deacon  San- 
derson used  thus  to  recite  a  line  first,  and  then  sing 


29 


it,  and  so  on ;  conducting  the  congregation,  line  by 
line,  through  the  hymn.  This,  however,  could  have 
happened  only  occasionally,  I  think,  within  his  recol- 
lection, —  as  perhaps  at  ante-communion  lectures,  — 
since  the  habit  of  choosing  choristers  began  as  early 
as  1767. 

After  a  while,  the  space  occupied  by  the  common 
long  seats  began  to  be  divided  up,  piece  by  piece,  into 
pew-ground,  on  which  individuals  were  allowed  the 
pri\ilege  of  setting  up  pews  for  themselves,  at  their 
own  expense.* 

The  first  preaching  in  this  place  was  probably  in 
the  month  of  May,  1736.  On  the  16th  of  June  of 
that  year,  Mr.  Ephraim  Keith  was  paid  "  fifty  shil- 
lings a  day  for  three  days  preaching  past,"  and  a 
Committee  was  chosen  to  hire  a  minister  for  one  year. 
Ministers  continued  to  be  employed,  for  short  periods, 
till  the  summer  of  1738,  when  the  Committee  w^as 
instructed  to  "  treet  with  a  minister  in  order  for  a 
settlement ;  "  and,  on  the  6th  of  September  of  that 
year,  it  was  voted,  at  a  proprietors'  meeting,  first,  "  to 
settle  an  Orthodox  minister  in  this  place  ;  and, 
secondly,  "  to  choose  Mr.  Aaron  Whitney  to  settle  as 
minister  of  the  gospel  in  this  place."  A  proprietors' 
lot  (intended  to  be  of  equal  value  with  the  lots  of 
other  proprietors)  "I"  was  ofiered  to  Mr.  "Whitney, 
together  with  £200  in  money,  as  a  settlement ;  and 


*  See  Appendix  D. 

t  The  first  minister  drew,  or  had  assigned  to  him,  one  proprietor's  share,  as  if  he 
had  been  one  of  the  original  grantees.  The  division  assigned  to  the  minister,  in  the 
first  allotment,  was  the  place  at  present  owned  and  occupied  by  George  White,  Esq., 
together  with  considerable  tracts  bordering  upon  it,  since  sold  o£F  to  other  estates. 


30 


£150  as  an  annual  salary.  This  invitation,  Mr.  Whit- 
ney accepted,  and  he  was  ordained  in  December  of 
the  same  year. 

The  church  appears  to  have  been  gathered  in  Octo- 
ber, 1738,  though  no  record  is  made  of  the  precise 
date.  It  consisted,  at  its  organization,  of  fifteen  male 
members.*  Isaac  Ward  and  Thomas  Adams  were 
chosen  the  first  deacons  of  the  church,  in  the  Decem- 
ber following. 

The  event  which  we  particularly  celebrate  to-day, 
the  incorporation  of  this  town,  took  place  on  the  20th 
of  April,  1754.  As  we  are  not  keeping  the  precise 
anniversary  of  that  event,  it  may  be  worth  while  to 
mention,  that  it  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  the 
act  of  incorporation,  Avhich  bears  date  of  April  20, 
was  actually  signed  by  the  Governor  on  that  day. 
On  the  22d  of  April,  the  House  of  Representatives 
sent  for  the  Secretary  "  to  attend  the  House,  in  order 
to  inquire  of  him  whether  the  Governor  had  signed 
the  two  engrossed  bills,  erecting  Xichewoag  and 
Quabin  [Greenwich]  into  townships  ;  who  accordingly 
attended,  and  informed  the  House  that  they  were  not 
signed."  This  was  two  days  after  the  date  which  the 
act  itself  bears.  Another  record  of  the  Council  appears 
as  if  the  Governor's  signature  might  have  been  affixed 
on  the  2'3d  of  April,  which  was  the  day  of  adjourn- 
ment.    It  is   not  important  to   discuss  the  question 

*  Aaron  Whitney,  Nathaniel  Wilder,  Joseph  Willson,  Isaac  Ward,  John  Oaks, 
Reuben  Farnsworth,  Samuel  AVillson,  Thomas  Adams,  Zedekiah  Stone,  George  llob- 
bins,  Silas  Walker,  Nathaniel  Stevens,  James  Clemence,  Jonas  Farnsworth,  Isaiah 
Glazier. 


31 


here.  If  any  mind  has  been  exercised  by  a  scruple 
in  regard  to  the  propriety  of  celebrating  on  the  4th 
of  July  an  event  which  took  place  on  the  20th  of 
April,  it  can  have  the  benefit  of  a  doubt,  whether  the 
Governor  did  actually  put  pen  to  paper  on  the  day 
last  named.* 

By  some  error,  about  twelve  hundred  acres  of  land, 
at  the  north-west  of  the  town,  and  belonging  to  it, 
were  not  included  in  the  act  of  incorporation.  At  the 
session  of  1756,  however,  the  mistake  was  a-ectiiied  by 
the  General  Court;  Abel  Willard,  Esq.,  of  Lancaster, 
being  employed  by  the  town  to  bring  the  case  before 
the  Legislature. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  question,  how  this  town  came  by  its  name. 
There  are  traditions  enough  about  it;  but,  unfortu- 
nately, of  those  I  have  heard,  none  is  entitled  to  any 
credit.  The  probability  is,  that  the  name  was  taken 
from  the  English  Petersham,  or  from  him  to  whom 
that  place  gave  the  title  of  Viscount  of  Petersham. 
But  the  question  is,  How  came  the  English  Peters- 
ham, or  its  Lord,  to  give  a  name  to  this  Nichewaug 
of  ours  ?  Was  it  a  mere  fancy  that  selected  the 
name  1  or  does  some  fact  of  historic  interest  account 
for  the  association  of  that  name  with  this  place  1  "j* 

John  Murray,  Esq.,  of  Rutland,  issued  the  warrant 
for  the  first  town-meeting  in  Petersham,  which  was 
held  on  the  19th  of  August,  1754.  The  meeting  was 
for  the  choice  of  officers,  and  for  putting  the  town 

*  Journals  of  the  House  of  Representatives  (printed)  and  of  the  Council,  1754. 
t  y^ppendix  E. 


32 


upon  the  usual  municipal  footing.  The  following 
persons  constituted  the  first  board  of  selectmen,  — 
Deacon  Isaac  Ward,  Joshua  AVillard,  John  Wilder, 
James  Clemence,  and  Joseph  Willson.  Joshua  Wil- 
lard  was  chosen  town-clerk ;  and  Jonas  Famsworth, 
treasurer. 

The  town  now  enters  upon  that  uniform  and 
uneventful  course  which  furnishes  but  little  of  the 
material  which  usually  constitutes  the  staple  of  the 
historian's  narrative.  Not  that  no  events  of  impor- 
tance really  transpired  here  from  year  to  year.  There 
was  no  year,  —  no,  not  one,  —  of  all  the  least  event- 
ful in  the  history  of  this  towm,  in  which  those  pro- 
cesses of  thought  and  education  were  not  silently 
going  on,  out  of  which  peaceful  progress  or  violent 
revolutions  grow,  and  nations  rise  or  sink.  History 
has  too  often  supposed  its  story  told,  and  all  told, 
when  it  has  chronicled  the  march  of  armies,  the 
intrigues  of  diplomatists,  and  the  installation  or  dis- 
solution of  cabinets.  But  history,  to  include  all  that 
belongs  to  it,  should  describe  more  faithfully  the  life 
of  peoples  in  their  homes  and  hamlets,  and  devote 
less  space,  comparatively,  to  the  doings  and  goings  of 
governors  and  governments. 

The  movements  of  an  age  or  of  a  nation  are  not 
recounted  in  full,  much  less  is  their  significance 
understood,  when  it  is  related  how  one  aspirant  went 
up  to  a  throne,  or  another  went  down  from  one ;  how 
one  kingdom  spread  itself  beyond  its  bounds,  and 
another  was,  by  just  so  much,  curtailed  and  straitened 


33 


in  its  borders.  The  towns  of  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  went  on  many  years,  showing,  to  superficial 
observers,  simply  that  they  assessed  and  paid  their 
taxes  regularly ;  that  they  annually  repaired  their 
highways,  and  appointed  the  requisite  number  of  con- 
stables and  field-drivers ;  that  they  made  yearly  appro- 
priations to  cover  the  minister's  salary  and  the  expenses 
of  their  schools.  When  England  and  France  went 
to  war,  of  course  the  New  England  and  the  New 
France,  this  side  the  water,  went  to  war  too.  And 
these  wars  are  the  main  outstanding  facts  which  arrest 
the  eye  of  the  reader  of  early  American  history.  But 
more  and  more  it  comes  to  be  seen,  how,  while  the 
surface  is  calmest,  the  waters  beneath  are  often  fastest 
gathering  volume  and  tide ;  how  men  are  often  think- 
ing most  when  acting  least ;  and  how  their  ideas  are 
hardening  into  convictions  and  inflexible  purposes 
most  rapidly,  while  there  is  smallest  manifestation  of 
present  change.  Take  the  period  from  the  incorpora- 
tion of  this  town,  to  the  time  when  the  Revolution  and 
the  independence  of  the  country  arose  to  view  as  pal- 
pable fact.  It  is  only  to  the  outward  eye  that  this 
seems  a  period  of  inactivity.  It  was  a  preparation 
time,  without  which  that  struggle  and  its  results  could 
never  have  been. 

While  the  people  of  this  town  were  apparently 
doing  little  more  than  growing  richer  and  more  pros- 
perous and  more  numerous,  during  the  twenty  years 
that  elapsed  between  the  beginning  of  their  towai-his- 
tory  and  the  visible  beginning  of  the  Revolution,  they 
were,  in   common  mth  the  people  of  all  the  towns, 


34 


talking  among  themselves ;  reading  their  newspapers, 
and  digesting  their  contents  ;  and  clearing  and  settling 
gradually,  within  their  own  minds,  certain  fundamen- 
tal principles  relating  to  constitutional  government 
and  popular  rights,  on  which  they  were  afterwards  to 
organize  their  opposition  to  the  home-government, 
and  next  to  organize  a  new  government  of  their 
own. 

But  I  must  leave  the  larger  field  which  is  opening 
before  me,  to  pursue  the  humbler  path  of  the  local 
annalist. 

The  same  tone  of  feeling  which  existed  in  Boston, 
as  New  England's  centre  and  head  previous  to  the 
Revolution,  existed  generally  throughout  the  country 
towns.  The  controversies  which  went  on  between 
the  Governors,  their  subofficials,  and  the  defenders  of 
kingly  prerogative,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  leading 
spirits  of  the  Revolution  on  the  other,  were  all  taken 
up  with  as  passionate  a  zeal,  re-argued  as  many  times 
over,  and  as  hotly  disputed,  in  the  interior,  as  they 
had  been  at  the  seat  of  government.  To  every  trum- 
pet-call of  freedom  from  the  borders  of  ^the  sea,  the 
hills  sent  back  a  quick  and  hearty  response.  Not- 
withstanding the  comparative  slo'wness  and  infre- 
quency  of  intercommunication  between  town  and 
country  at  that  period,  every  pulse  of  feeling  at  the 
heart  shot  out  an  almost  instant  throb  to  the  remotest 
extremities ;  and  the  fiery  eloquence  which  famous 
old  Faneuil  Hall  knew  so  well  in  those  days  had  its 
modest  echo  in  many  a  country  meeting-house. 


35 


When  the  opposing  forces  came  to  draw  off  to  their 
respective  sides  in  this  place,  it  was  found  that  the 
party  friendly  to  the  government,  or  rather  the  party 
counselling  acquiescence  in  the  measures  of  govern- 
ment, although  less  numerous  than  the  other,  yet 
embraced  nearly  all  the  persons  in  the  town  of  chief 
social  consideration.  The  minister,  whose  profession 
had  then  far  greater  influence  than  now,  supported 
that  side.  Not  only  by  the  weight  of  his  character, 
but  in  his  pulpit  addresses  and  public  prayers,  he  lent 
his  support  to  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings 
and  of  governments  de  facto.  .  Others,  as  much  re- 
spected for  their  \artues  as  for  their  intelligence,  threw 
their  weight  upon  the  same  side.  Not  all  these,  by  any 
means,  acquitted  the  home-government  of  blame,  or 
altogether  of  oppression ;  but  these  all  agreed  that  it 
was  wildest  folly  to  attempt  to  withstand  the  action 
of  that  government  by  any  outright  resistance.  On 
the  other  side,  there  was  as  much  honesty,  and 
doubtless  as  much  patriotism,  and  probably  no  more. 
It  was  a  case  where  there  was  room  for  an  honest 
difference  of  opinion.  And  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  that  difference  was  rather  as  to  what  was  expe- 
dient for  the  colonies,  than  as  to  whether  king  and 
parliament  had  done  riglit  in  the  premises.  Many 
would  have  said  "  Resist,"  had  they  hoped  that  resist- 
ance would  do  any  good.  But  they  saw  no  hope  of  suc- 
cess. Simply  differing  m  opinion,  then,  at  first,  as  to 
what  would  be  the  effect  of  resisting,  they  grew  warm ; 
positions  taken  with  the  coolness  of  conviction  came 
to  be  defended  with  the  heat  of  passion.     Party  spi- 


36 


rit  arose,  —  rose  higher  and  higher ;  more  and  more 
decisive  became  the  separation ;  bitterness  of  feeling 
took  the  place  of  neighborly  kindness,  and  hate 
ripened  into  violence  and  open  war. 

It  w^as  about  the  year  1767,  that  a  young  man, 
Ensign  Man  by  name,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College, 
after  having  taught  a  school  in  Lancaster  some  three 
years,  came  to  Petersham  to  pursue  the  same  employ- 
ment. He  had  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  liberty. 
The  Committee  who  were  to  pass  upon  his  qualifica- 
tions as  a  teacher,  of  whom  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  was 
one,  did  not  like  his  political  sentiments,  and  were 
willing  to  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  appoint- 
ment. Mr.  Whitney  refused  to  take  any  active  part 
in  his  examination,  and  withheld  from  him  his  appro- 
bation, though  he  appears  to  have  been  present  when 
the  examination  was  made.  But,  in  spite  of  all  anti- 
pathies and  objections,  Mr.  Man  at  length  commenced 
his  labors.  The  course  taken  by  Mr.  AVhitney  exaspe- 
rated, to  a  higher  pitch,  those  who  were  of  the  oppo- 
site party,  and  fanned  the  fire  all  ready  to  blaze.  He 
was  assailed,  even  in  the  public  prints,  with  unsparing 
severity.* 

Early  in  '68,  the  Massachusetts  House  of  lleprc- 
sentatives,  after  having  voted  an  address  to  the  king 
on  the  subject  of  their  grievances,  in  terms  which  were 
deemed  offensive  by  the  government,  were  required  to 
rescind  their  action.  The  vote  on  rescinding  stood 
seventeen  in  the  affirmative,  to  ninety-two  in  the  nega- 

♦  See  Appendix  F. 


37 


tive.  Of  course,  the  staunch  ninety-two,  who  would 
not  take  back  their  own  words  at  the  royal  mandate, 
were  everywhere  applauded  warmly  by  the  revolution- 
ists, and  the  seventeen  who  were  ready  to  comply 
were  as  vehemently  denounced.  The  faithful  and  the 
faithless  were  alike  remembered,  and  their  deeds  duly 
celebrated,  by  the  Petersham  Whigs. 

The  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  as  they  styled  themselves 
in  this  town,  met  on  the  20th  of  September  of  that 
year  (1768),  to  dedicate  a  tree  to  the  goddess  of 
liberty.  Having  selected  a  thrifty  young  elm,*  they 
first  cut  off  seventeen  poorer  branches,  leaving,  as 
they  asserted,  ninety-two  remaining.  The  tree  was 
then,  with  some  ceremony,  consecrated  to  liberty ;  and 
the  seventeen  amputated  limbs  were  consigned  to  the 
flames,  the  famous  Song  of  Liberty  t  being  sung  by  the 
votaries  of  the  goddess,  while  the  dishonored  branches 
were  consuming  to  ashes.  Having  scattered  the 
embers  to  the  winds,  and  shouted  long  and  loud 
huzzas  around  the  new  shrine  of  their  divinity,  they 
marched  in  procession  to  a  place  of  entertainment, 
and  there,  in  dishes  of  barley  coffee,  drank  patriotic 
toasts,  expressive  of  loyalty  to  the  king,  and  enmity 

*  This  tree  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  southernmost  of  that  row  of  elms  now 
standing  along  the  east  side  of  the  street,  above  the  Peter  Chamberlain  Place,  and 
against  the  land  of  Seth  Hapgood,  Esq. 

t  A  song,  consisting  of  eight  verses,  much  sung  among  the  revolutionary  patriots 
at  that  period.     It  was  sung  to  the  tune  Hearts  of  Oak,  and  began  — 

"  Come,  join  hand  in  hand,  brave  Americans  all, 
And  rouse  your  bold  hearts  at  fair  liberty's  call ; 
No  tyrannous  acts  shall  suppress  your  just  claim, 
Or  stain  with  dishonor  America's  name." 

It  was  parodied  by  their  opponents,  and  the  parody  then  parodied  again  in  turn, 

100598 


38 


tQ  all  kinds  of  tyrants  *  In  the  ceremonies  of  this 
occasion,  young  Mr.  Man  was  a  prominent  actor. 
His  part  in  them  was,  of  course,  not  calculated  to 
conciliate  those  who  were  already  embittered  against 
him.  If  they  had  liked  him  little  at  first,  they  liked  him 
less  now  that  they  found  him  lending  efficient  aid  to 
what  they  regarded  as  the  most  treasonable  agitations. 
All  other  persons  of  education  in  the  town  being  of 
the  royal  party,  the  training  which  Mr.  Man  had 
had  in  letters  made  him  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the 
Whigs,  who  had  frequent  occasion,  no  doiibt,  to  avail 
themselves  of  his  services  in  drawing  up  their  papers, 
and  putting  their  resolutions  in  form.  And,  just  to 
the  extent  to  which  he  could  and  did  render  them  aid, 
he  provoked  necessarily  the  ill-will  of  those  who 
heartily  wished  them  confusion  and  defeat. 

At  length,  the  conflicts  and  collisions,  which,  as 
yet,  had  been  confined  to  words,  took  a  more  positive 
form.  In  August,  1770,  Captain  Thomas  Beaman,  a 
Tory  (to  use  the  common  designation  of  those  who 
were  of  the  government  party),  who  lived  on  the 
place  now  owned  by  Artemas  Bryant,  Esq.,  which 
place  he  had  bought  of  Mr.  Sylvanus  How,  claimed 
that  a  certain  small  schoolhouse,  standing  about 
seventy  rods  east  of  his  dwelling,  was  upon  his  land, 
and  was  his  property ;  and  accordingly,  with  the 
design  of  keeping  the  obnoxious  schoolmaster  from 
entering  the   same,   padlocked  it,   and   made  it  fast 


*  For  further  particulars  relating  to  this  occurrence,  as  well  as  comments  there- 
upon, see  "  Boston  Evening  Post"  of  Sept.  28, 17G8  (supplement),  Aug.  22  and  Oct.  3 
of  same  year,  and  March  13,  1769. 


39 


against  him.  Mr.  How,  contending  that  the  school- 
house  was  not  on  Beaman's  land,  but  in  the  highway, 
accompanied  Mr.  Man  to  the  schoolhouse,  and,  with- 
out ceremony,  broke  it  open.  This  led  to  a  suit 
against  How  and  Man,  in  which  Beaman  alleged  that 
he  had  been  damaged  by  the  trespass  to  the  amount 
of  £9.  10s.*  The  case  was  tried  in  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  and  the  jury  awarded- to  the  plaintiff  six 
shillings.  The  defendants,  how^ever,  appealed  to  the 
Superior  Court,  where  the  damages  were  reduced ; 
but  the  costs,  amounting  to  a  considerable  sum,  were 
thrown  upon  the  defendants.  Our  Captain  Beaman, 
by  -the  way,  the  complainant  in  this  case,  has  the 
unenviable  distinction  of  having  acted  as  a  guide  to 
the  British  troops  in  their  march  to  Concord,  on  the 
day  of  the  Lexington  and  Concord  fight. f  He  after- 
wards fled  to  the  eastern  provinces,  and  his  estate  was 
confiscated. 

Mr.  Sylvanus  How,  in  carrying  his  appeal  from  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  to  the  Superior  Court,  in 
the  case  just  related,  sought  aid  of  one  of  the  most 
eminent  men  of  his  day,  and  one  of  the  foremost  in 


*  The  complaint  runs  (in  the  style  of  legal  instruments),  that  How  and  Man 
did,  "  on  divers  days  and  times,  between  the  first  day  and  the  15th  day  of  August 
inst.,  with  force  and  arms,  break  and  enter  a  small  house  belonging  to  ye  said  Tho- 
mas, made  for  a  Dwelling-house,  of  about  18  ft.  square,  standing  on  the  said  Thomas' 
land,  in  Petersham  aforesaid,  which  he  lately  bought  of  ye  said  Sylvanus,  which 
house  is  of  the  value  of  twenty  pounds."  .  .  .  That  they  "there,  and  within  said 
time,  with  force  as  aforesaid,  took  and  carried  away  one  of  the  plaintiff's  padlocks, 
three  of  his  iron  staples,  and  one  of  his  iron  hasps,  all  of  the  value  of  Ten  shillings;  " 
and  that  "  other  injuries  the  said  Sylvanus  and  Ensign  did  the  said  Thomas,  ...  in 
his  same  small  house  and  his  close  adjoining,  ...  to  the  damage  of  the  said  Thomas, 
to  tho  value  of  nine  pounds." —  Court  Records, 

t  Shattuck's  History  of  Concord. 


40 


influence  and  action  among  those  who  led  the  Ameri- 
can Colonies  to  take  and  maintain  their  stand  against 
the  aggressions  of  the  English  crown.  This  was  the 
distinguished  Josiah  Quincy,  jun.  He  died  at  an  age 
at  which  few  men  are  ripe  enough  to  begin  to  lead; 
but  he  had  accomplished  the  work  of  a  long  lifetime. 
He  did  not  live  to  see  the  struggle  open  even ;  and 
yet  few,  if  any,  contributed  more  than  he  to  its  tri- 
umphant termination.  The  sagacious  and  penetrating 
Franklin  confided  in  him,  and  sought  his  counsel,  as 
if  he  had  been  a  man  of  widest  and  longest  expe- 
rience. The  king  and  his  ministers  showed  their 
estimate  of  his  abilities,  by  courting  him  with  flatter- 
ing attentions,  and  still  more  significant  advances  ; 
they  discovered,  at  once,  and  unmistakably,  however, 
the  temper  of  his  virtue ;  and  attested,  by  the  watch- 
ful eye  which  they  kept  upon  his  movements,  how 
highly  they  rated  his  capacity  to  help  or  obstruct 
their  counsels,  and  how  much  importance  they 
attached  to  his  espousal  of  the  one  or  the  other  side 
of  their  quarrel  with  their  American  colonies. 

Mr.  How,  being  brought  into  association  wdth  Mr. 
Quincy  in  the  relation  of  client,  and  being  about  the 
same  time  appointed  by  the  town  chairman  of  a  Com- 
mittee to  draft  a  Reply  to  the  Circular  Letter  from 
the  Boston  Committee  of  Correspondence,  was  willing 
to  receive  aid  from  so  competecft  a  hand,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty  as  a  member  of  that  Committee. 
The  fact  of  this  aid  explains  the  wide  attention  which 
the  Petersham  TiCtter  and  Resolutions  attracted  to 
themselves  on  their  publication  ;  though  it  is  but  due 


41 


to  the  Committee  to  say,  that  those  parts  of  their 
report  which  came  directly  from  their  own  hearts  and 
hands  are  not  without  many  sentences  fiery  with 
patriotic  passion,  and  expressive  of  a  resolute  energy, 
which  is  determined  to  stand  by  their  cause  and  coun- 
try to  the  last.  AVhat  they  did  contribute  to  the 
report  shows  it  was  not  from  want  of  capacity  that 
they  did  not  furnish  the  w^hole.  Such  were  the  spirit 
and  force  with  which  some  portions  of  it  were  drawn, 
that  the  question  is  said  to  have  been  repeatedly 
asked  of  Captain  Ivory  Holland,  by  his  brother- 
officers  of  the  army,  what  eminent  man  the  town  of 
Petersham  possessed,  who  had  attached  himself  to  the 
Whig  cause  *  To  these  questions,  he  could  only  an- 
swer, that  the  Whigs  of  that  town  had  not  one  liberally 
educated  person  among  them;  for,  by  this  time,  Mr. 
Man  had  been  wounded  and  taken  captive  by  a  sub- 
tler warrior,  and  a  hero  of  more  conquests,  than  ever 
went  clad  in  armor  of  metal.  The  minister  could  not 
convert  him  from  his  idol-worship  at  the  shrine  of 
liberty,  nor  all  the  armies  of  the  royal  George  subdue 
or  bind  his  spirit;  but  the  minister  had  a  gentle 
daughter,  the  glance  of  whose  eye  smote  his  shield 
through  and  through,  cleft  his  helmet  in  twain,  and 
left  him  defenceless.  At  the  feet  of  Miss  Alice  Whit- 
ney, he  had,  by  this  time,  surrendered  at  discretion, 
renouncing  utterly  the  politics  of  his  earlier  man- 
hood. —  This  by  way  of  parenthesis. 

The  Whigs  of  Petersham  had  received  an  important 


*  Appendix  G. 

6 


42 


accession  to  their  strength,  in  1772,  in  Colonel 
Ephraim  Doolittle.  He  came  here  from  Worcester, 
where  he  had  held  various  offices  of  trust,  and  been 
prominent  and  active  as  a  Whig  from  the  beginning  of 
the  troubles  preceding  the  Revolution.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Committee  but  just  now  referred  to,  as 
having  presented  the  Reply  to  the  Boston  Circular, 
in  December,  1772;  and  some  portion  of  it  he  may 
have  written.  William  Lincoln,  Esq.,  in  his  "History 
of  Worcester,"  speaks  as  if  he  were  the  author  of  the 
whole.  We  have  shown  that  he  was  not  the  writer 
of  all :  he  may  have  been  of  a  part.*  The  Committee 
consisted,  besides  Messrs.  Doolittle  and  How,  of 
Jonathan  Grout,  Samuel  Dennis,  Daniel  Miles,  Cap- 
tain Elisha  Ward,  John  Stowell,  Theophihis  Chandler, 
and  Deacon  William  Willard,  —  men  of  strong  sense 
and  excellent  understanding.  Mr.  Doolittle  was  also 
the  moderator  of  the  town-meeting  at  which  the  let- 
ter and  resolutions  were  adopted,  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice.  In  1773,  he  represented  the  town  in  the 
General  Court ;  the  following  year,  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Provincial  Congress  which  met  at  Concord, 
and  was  chosen  the  Captain  of  the  "  West  Side " 
Militia  Company ;  and,  soon  after.  Colonel  of  the  regi- 
ment of  minute-men  in  the  county.  He  marched 
with  his  troops  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  and  was 
stationed  at  Cambridge.  Being  disabled,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  previous  injury,  he  was  not  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Bunker  Plill,  on  the   1 7th  of  June ;  though 

*  See  Appendix  G. 


43 


his  regiment  was  engaged,  and  bore  itself  gallantly  in 
the  battle  of  that  day.  Colonel  Doolittle  "  participated 
in  almost  every  act  of  a  public  character  in  Worces- 
ter and   Petersham   during   his   residence   in   either 

tOA\Tl."  * 

During  the  years  1773  and  1774,  the  public  mind 
continued  in  a  ferment  throughout  the  colonies.  In 
this  town,  there  was  no  abatement  —  not  a  momen- 
tary lull  —  of  the  storm.  The  excitement  went  on 
increasing.  The  Whigs,  gaining  numbers  and  confi- 
dence, grew  more  bold,  united,  and  determined ;  while 
their  opponents,  if  unchanged  in  feeling,  followed,  to 
some  extent,  the  dictates  of  prudence,  and  were  less 
defiant.  Some  of  the  leading  persons  of  the  place, 
indeed,  though  in  sympathy  with  the  royal  cause, 
took  no  active  part  in  the  contentions  which  were 
going  on.  Nevertheless,  the  opposition  to  the  revolu- 
tionary measures  continued  to  be  strong  in  influence, 
if  not  in  numbers,  in  this  quarter.  Lampooned  in 
verse,f  and  denounced  in  prose,  in  the  newspapers, 
they  repaid  their  antagonists  with  contempt,  and  with 
such  more  substantial  resistance  as  they  were  able  to 
make.  Considerable  numbers  of  them  entered  into  a 
compact  essentially  the   same  with   that   known  as 

*  Lincoln.  For  further  particulars  of  Doolittle,  see  "History  of  Worcester,"  pp. 
176,  281-2.  A  singular  weapon,  which  he  devised,  and  caused  to  be  manufactured, 
for  the  want  of  a  better,  is  still  preserved  among  the  curiosities  of  the  American  Anti- 
quarian Society's  cabinet  in  Worcester.  The  more  polite  called  it  a  "Tory -hook." 
It  had  a  name  less  polished  for  ruder  ears.  Though  a  formidable  instrument  to  look 
at,  it  was  not  found  serviceable.  A  description  of  it  may  be  seen  in  the  "  History  of 
Worcester."  Colonel  Doolittle  was  a  hatter,  and  lived,  while  in  this  town,  in  a  "  hip- 
roofed  "  house,  situated  a  little  north  of  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  William 
Clark. 

t  Sec  Appendix  H. 


44 


Brigadier  Ruggles's  covenant ;  an  agreement  binding 
them  not  to  acknowledge  the  pretended  authority  of 
any  Congresses,  Committees  of  Correspondence,  or 
other  unconstitutional  assemblages  of  men ;  and 
pledging  them,  at  the  risk  of  life,  to  oppose  the  forci- 
ble exercise  of  all  such  authority ;  to  stand  by  each 
other,  and  repel  force  with  force,  in  case  of  any  inva- 
sion of  their  rights  of  property  or  of  person. 

For  this  act,  the  town  voted  a  public  censure  upon 
them  ;  and  ordered  three  hundred  handbills  to  be 
printed,  posted  at  the  taverns,  and  circulated  abroad, 
naming  them  as  enemies  of  freedom  and  of  their 
country,  and  forbidding  all  persons  carrying  on  any 
commerce  with  them.  The  number  included  in  this 
censure  and  proclamation  was  fourteen,  embracing 
some  of  the  most  respected  and  influential  persons  in 
the  town.  The  esteem  in  which  they  had  been  pre- 
viously held  by  their  opponents  is  evinced  even  in  the 
very  act  which  denounced  and  almost  outlawed  them. 
After  calling  them  "  incorrigible  enemies  of  America," 
and  charging  them  with  being  willing  "  to  enslave 
their  brethren  and  posterity  for  ever,"  their  judges 
say,  "We  are  with  great  reluctance  constrained  to 
pronounce  those,  some  of  which  have  heretofore  been 
our  agreeable  neighbors,  traitorous  parricides  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  in  general,  and  the  united  provinces 
of  North  America  in  particular." 

Against  Hev.  Mr.  Whitney,  who  had  continued, 
both  in  his  sermons  and  his  prayers,  to  inculcate  sub- 
mission to  the  sovereign,  the  tide  of  popular  indigna- 
tion rose  at  length  to  the  highest  pitch.     The  church 


45 


was  rent  by  dissensions,  and  public  worship  was 
neglected;  till  at  length,  about  the  close  of  1774,  the 
town  voted  that  they  "  will  not  bargain  with,  hire,  nor 
imploy  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  to  preach  for  them  any 
longer."  Mr.  "Whitney  attempted  to  open  negotiations 
for  a  reconciliation  with  the  people ;  but  they  refused 
to  compromise  with  him,  discontinued  his  salary,  and, 
finding  that  that  would  not  cause  him  to  desist  from 
preaching,  they  chose  a  Committee  of  ten,  on  the  24th 
of  the  next  May,  "  to  see  that  the  publick  worship  on 
Lord's  Day  next,  and  all  future  worship,  be  not  dis- 
turbed by  any  person  or  persons  going  into  the  desk, 
but  such  persons  as  shall  be  put  in  by  the  Town's 
Committee."  In  pursuance  of  this  vote,  an  armed 
guard*  was  stationed  at  the  meeting-house  door,  on 
Sunday  morning,  who,  when  the  minister  arrived,  and 
would  have  entered  as  usual,  refused  to  allow  him  to 
pass.  After  this,  Mr.  Whitney  preached  regularly  at 
his  own  house  on  the  sabbath,  the  services  being 
attended  by  those  who  Avere  politically  in  sympathy 
wdth  him. 

While  Mr.  Whitney  was  an  out-spoken  adherent  of 
the  royal  cause.  Rev.  Mr.  Dennis,  pastor  of  a  Baptist 
church  at  the  south-west  part  of  the  town  (the  Factory 
Village,  as  it  has  been  called  of  late  years),  was  as 
ardent  a  Whig,"]*  and  drew  many  of  the  disaffected  from 
the  ministrations  of  the  Congregational  church  to  his 
own. 


*  Peter  Gore,  a  half-breed  Indian,  was  appointed  to  this  duty.     He  lived  in  a 
small  house,  just  above  the  present  residence  of  Joseph  Brown,  Esq. 
t  Appendix  G. 


46 


During  the  year  1774,  town-meetings  were  con- 
tinued along,  by  short  adjournments,  pretty  much 
through  the  year.  The  military  companies  were  effi- 
ciently organized  and  officered ;  a  company  of  minute- 
men,  numbering  fifty,  was  enrolled,  with  Captain 
Wing  Spooner  for  captain ;  liberal  appropriations 
were  made  for  increasing  the  town's  stock  of  ammu- 
nition ;  while  earnest  endeavors  were  made  to  engage 
every  male  inhabitant  of  the  town,  above  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  to  sign  the  non-consumption  covenant, 
—  an  agreement  not  to  use  any  of  the  articles  on 
which  Parliament  was  seeking  to  raise  a  revenue  from 
the  colonies.  Observing  men  saw  now  that  force 
would  have  to  be  met  by  force,  and  that  soon.  They 
were  generally  ready  for  the  issue.  Their  minds  were 
made  up.  Such  was  the  posture  of  affairs,  that  it  was 
next  to  impossible  for  any  to  remain  neutral.  How- 
ever reluctant,  nearly  all  were  compelled  to  take  sides  ; 
and  nearly  all  did  so. 

Things  were  in  this  state  at  the  opening  of  the  year 
1775. 

One  of  the  first  instances,  in  the  country,  of  open 
collision  between  the  friends  of  the  king  and  the  party 
of  freedom,  took  place  in  this  town  in  January,  or 
early  in  February,  of  this  year. 

Two  British  officers,  Captain  Brown  and  Ensign 
D'Bernicre,  were  sent  out  from  Boston,  by  General 
Ciage,  in  the  latter  part  of  February,  to  travel  vip 
through  the  country  from  Boston  to  "Worcester,  with 
instructions  to  make  observations  on  the  situation  of 
the  country,  the  roads,  distances,  &c.     At  great  risk. 


47 


and  with  much  difficulty,  they  made  their  way  to 
Worcester  and  back  again,  in  disguise.  At  "Worces- 
ter, some  gentlemen,  in  the  Tory  interests,  sent  them 
word  secretly,  "  that  the  friends  of  government  at 
Petersham  ivere  disarmed  hy  the  rebels,  and  that  they 
threatened  to  do  the  same  at  Worcester  in  a  very  little 
time." 

The  transaction  here  referred  to  was  substantially 
as  follows :  — 

One  Dr.  Ball,  of  Templeton  (that  part  which  has 
since  borne  the  name  of  Gerry  and  Phillipston  suc- 
cessively), a  warm  Whig,  being  in  this  town,  chanced 
to  fall  into  an  altercation  with  one  or  two  young  men 
of  the  opposing  party ;  one  of  them  a  son  of  Mr.  David 
Stone,  who  lived  at  the  place  where  Mr.  Silas  Hildreth 
now  lives. 

The  disputants  separated  in  no  very  amiable  tem- 
per ;  and  when  Dr.  Ball,  after  a  time,  was  descending 
the  hill  just  this  side  of  the  old  tan-yard,  on  his  way 
home,  those  who  had  had  the  contention  with  him 
waylaid  him,  and  pelted  him  with  stones.  One  of 
the  missiles  took  effect,  and  wounded  him  seriously 
(it  was  afterwards  said  fatally).  It  needed  but  some 
such  spark  of  provocation  to  set  in  a  blaze  the  com- 
bustible passions  with  which  the  breasts  of  all  were 
filled.  The  tidings  of  the  outrage  were  quickly  spread 
through  the  neighboring  towns.  The  Templeton 
Whigs,  in  particular,  were  much  exasperated,  as  the 
sufferer  was  one  of  their  number.  Gathering  together 
a  considerable  force,  they  marched  across  to  this  town, 
where  they  were -joined  by  those  who  sympathized 


48 


with  them  living  here ;  while  many  more  were 
brought  in,  by  their  interest  in  the  great  struggle 
pending,  from  other  towTis  round  about.  The  Tories, 
meantime,  having  taken  the  alarm,  and  not  knowing 
where  the  excited  feelings  of  the  people  might  stop, 
had  assembled,  with  their  arms  and  ammunition,  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Stone,  which  they  barricaded  and 
secured,  preparing  to  defend  themselves  there,  if  the 
case  should  require  it. 

Around  this  house.  Captain  Holraan,  of  Templeton, 
formed  his  company,  with  such  reinforcements  as  had 
joined  them,  and  the  occupants  found  themselves  in  a 
state  of  siege. 

Messengers  were  despatched  to  the  towns  adjoining, 
to  call  together  their  Committees  of  Safety  for  coun- 
sel. Meanwhile,  the  house  was  guarded  strictly, 
through  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  the  night  suc- 
ceeding, under  a  heavy  storm.  Attempts  were  made, 
from  time  to  time,  to  arrange  a  capitulation ;  but 
without  success.  At  length,  the  tradition  says,  that 
one  of  the  besiegers,  Mr.  Samuel  Byham,  of  Temple- 
ton,  unable  longer  to  restrain  his  impatience,  declared 
his  determination  to  shoot,  if  not  with,  then  without, 
orders.  This  seemed  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis. 
The  party  within,  unwilling  to  cause  the  shedding  of 
blood  unnecessarily,  and  probably  convinced  that  they 
were  too  few  to  maintain  a  successful  resistance,  lis- 
tened to  the  suggestion  of  Joshua  Willard,  Esq.,  one 
of  their  number,  aaIio  avowed  himself  in  fa^or  of  a 
surrender.  His  counsel  met  with  favor,  and  was 
adopted. 


49 


The  party  besieged  accordingly  threw  open  the 
doors  of  the  house;  and,  as  they  came  forth,  were 
surrounded,  and  marched  to  the  tavern  kept  by  Mr. 
Winslow  (the  house  which  stood  beneath  the  elm), 
and  there  an  examination  was  held  by  a  Council 
of  the  various  Committees  of  Safety.  The  throwing 
of  the  stones  was  qonfessed  to  by  the  offender.  This 
extemporaneous  court  decided  that  the  royalists 
should  give  up  their  arms,  and  enter  into  an  engage- 
ment not  to  act  against  the  revolutionary  movement 
for  the  future.  Some  of  the  traditions  say,  that  they 
went  much  farther,  placing  them  under  the  most 
stringent  surveillance ;  forbidding  them  to  go  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  town,  or  even  off  their  farms,  without 
passports  from  the  Committee  of  Safety.  If  these  last 
orders  were  adopted,  they  were  not  long  or  rigorously 
enforced. 

Here  we  begin  to  conceive  the  fearful  nature  of 
civil  war.  No,  we  do  not  conceive  it.  It  was  too 
long  ago.  The  perspective  is  too  far  drawn.  The 
images  are  indistinct.  Set  the  imagination  to  work 
to  bring  the  objects  close,  and  the  picture  may  become 
a  reality.  Here  stand  those  who  have  been  kind  and 
agreeable  neighbors,  —  yea,  nearer  than  that,  —  those 
who  were  brought  up  around  one  hearthstone,  —  here 
they  stand,  gun  in  hand,  liable  to  hear,  at  any  moment, 
the  command  to  point  their  deadly  weapons  at  one 
another's  breasts,  and,  worst  of  all,  are  ready  to 
obey.' 

Tradition  says,  that  two  anxious  wives,  one  having 
a  husband   inside  the  beleaguered  house,  the  other 

7 


50 


having  one  outside,  met  in  the  solitary  fields  that  lay 
between  their  respective  dwellings,  and  there  held 
tearful  converse  in  the  darkness ;  they  cared  kindly 
for  each  other,  as  in  neighboring  wives  was  becoming. 
But  their  husbands,  they  knew,  were  ranged  in  hostile 
ranks ;  and  they  lamented,  as  they  foreboded  evil  on 
that  stormy  night.* 

The  great  drama  of  war  soon  opened.  We  have 
dwelt  too  long,  perhaps,  on  the  feelings  and  measures 
which  preceded  it.  We  must  pass,  with  but  a  brief 
mention,  some  few  events  and  facts  belonging  to  the 
line  of  our  story,  and  connected  with  the  war  itself 
The  history  of  the  Revolutionary  War  is  the  familiar 
chapter  in  our  nation's  history.  It,  least  of  all,  needs 
to  be  dwelt  on  to-day.  This  town  bore  its  full  part 
in  all  those  burdens.  In  men  and  money,  in  patriotic 
zeal,  and  ready  and  efficient  action,  it  was  among  the 
foremost. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  mention,  that,  on  April  12, 
1775,  just  one  week  before  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
the  town  being  met,  voted,  "  that  the  present  assembly 
be  directed  to  warn  every  male  inhabitant,  from  sixteen 
years  old  and  upwards,  to  meet  at  the  meeting-house 
in  Petersham,  with  arms  and  ammunition,  on  Monday 
next,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning."  So  that  there 
was  a  general  muster  of  all  the  able-bodied  men  and 
youth  in  the  town,  on  the  day  but  one  before  the 
memorable  19th. 


*  Mrs.  Sylvanus  How  and  Mrs.  Seth  llapgood.  The  account  of  this  affair  at  Mr. 
Stone's  has  been  gathered  from  town-records,  traditions,  "  Boston  Evening  Post  "  for 
March  13,  1775,  MSS.  of  Mrs.  Sarah  How,  Ac. 


51 


The  tidings  from  that  first  battle-field  was  the  war- 
note  that  waked  the  nation.  The  sagacious  saw  what 
the  colonies  were  come  to,  and  that  there  was  now  no 
turning  back.  From  this,  as  from  all  the  to^vns,  com- 
panies, hastily  mustered,  marched  at  once  toward 
the  theatre  of  war. 

It  deserves  to  be  recorded  perhaps,  as  an  early 
symptom  of  the  approaching  assumption  of  indepen- 
dence, that  the  first  town-meeting  in  this  place  not 
warned  in  the  name  of  his  majesty,  the  English  king, 
was  held  on  the  17th  of  July,  1775,  just  about  a  year 
before  the  formal  Declaration  of  Independence.  The 
Selectmen  "  requested "  the  Constable  "  to  warn  and 
notify  the  freeholders,  and  other  inhabitants  that  have 
estate  of  freehold  in  land  of  [the  value  of]  forty  shil- 
lings per  annum,  or  other  estate  to  the  value  of  forty 
pounds  sterling." 

In  the  May  following,  the  voice  of  the  town  for 
independence  was  heard  more  distinctly.  A  meeting 
was  called  to  be  holden  on  the  27th  of  that  month, 
"  to  see  if  the  inhabitants  will  instruct  their  Repre- 
sentative to  inform  the  Great  and  General  Court  of 
this  Province,  that  they  stand  ready,  and  are  fully 
determined,  to  support  the  Continental  Congress  with 
their  lives  and  fortunes,  on  condition  they  should 
declare  the  American  Colonies  independent  of  corrupt 
and  arbitrary  Great  Britain." 

At  the  meeting  thus  warned,  Colonel  Doolittle  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  report  on 
the  subject.  And  "  when  the  question  was  put,  whe- 
ther they  would  stand  by  and  support  the  Continental 


52 


Congress,  on  condition  they  should  declare  the  Ameri- 
can Colonies  independent  of  corrupt  and  arbitrary 
Great  Britain,  with  their  lives  and  fortunes,  it  passed 
in  the  affirmative,  with  but  one  dissentient." 

On  the  very  day  on  which  Congress  were  adopting 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  proclaiming  it 
in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  the  inhabitants  of 
Petersham  were  in  session  at  their  humble,  weather- 
stained  meeting-house,  that  stood  over  yonder  by  the 
gate  of  the  burial-field,  there  devising  and  executing 
such  measures  as  should  make  that  declaration  good. 
On  that  July  4:th,  1776  (seventy-eight  years  ago  this 
day  and  hour),  Hancock,  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  the 
immortal  train  of  patriots  with  whom  they  sat  in 
council,  decided  at  Philadelphia,  that,  "  sink  or  swim, 
live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,"  they  gave  heart  and 
hand  to  that  vote  which  severed  the  American  Colo- 
nies from  tine  English  crown,  and  created  a  new 
empire. 

That  same  day,  the  staunch  patriots  of  this  town, 
sitting  in  council  on  the  spot  just  indicated,  with 
Colonel  Doolittle  for  their  Moderator,  were  helping  to 
provide  the  men  and  the  means,  without  which  that 
declaration  would  have  been  but  waste  paper.  And 
it  neither  belittles  the  moral  grandeur  of  that  scene 
at  Philadelphia,  nor  foists. to  an  unbeseeming  conspi- 
cuity  that  which  transpired  here  eight  and  seventy 
years  ago,  to  associate  them  together. 

Honored  be  the  men  that  dared  declare  indepen- 
dence !  Honored,  equally  with  them,  the  men  who, 
saving  that  declaration  from  becoming  a  hissing  and  a 


53 


b*y-word,  made  it  the  rock  of  foundation  on  which  to 
build  the  foremost  nation  of  this  century ! 

I  have  spoken  with  an  honest  and  a  heartfelt  enthu- 
siasm of  the  time  when,  and  of  the  men  by  whom, 
this  nation  had  a  beginning.  Let  those  who  can, 
render  her  unqualified  honor  for  what  she  now  is,  and 
for  what  she  now  does.  In  all  that  exhibits  a  mate- 
rial prosperity  and  power,  her  career  has  indeed  been 
one  of  unexampled,  amazing  splendor.  But  there 
was  a  promise  in  her  birth  which  has  not  been  kept. 
She  promised  that  all  of  human-kind  beneath  her 
aegis  should  be  recognized  as  ha\dng  equal  natural 
rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 
She  does  not  abide  by  her  noble  declaration.  She 
has  not  only  failed  to  make  it  good:  she  has  lent 
herself  to  an  oppression  which  flouts  it  with  con- 
tempt. 

Are  these  words  discordant  with  your  feelings  ?  and 
do  you  hold  none  a  true  lover  of  his  country  who 
refuses  to  praise  her  on  her  great  anniversary  1  It  is 
because  I  love  my  country,  that  I  desire  for  her  a 
spotless,  an  honorable,  an  ever-brightening  fame.  She 
will  never  fulfil  her  early  promise,  never  be  great  in 
the  greatest  way,  till  she  honors  man  as  man ;  till  she 
protects  with  an  impartial  justice,  and  cherishes  with 
an  equal  love,  all  her  children. 

The  zeal  mth  which  the  people  of  this  to-wTi  made 
their  declarations  for  independence,  and  gave  pledges 
of  aid  in  securing  it,  did  not  end  in  words :  their  deeds 
corresponded  with  their  promises.  Through  all  the 
dark  days  of  that  trying  period,  they  were  steadfast  in 


54" 


their  support  of  the  cause  of  freedom.  Every  encour- 
agement was  given  to  the  strong-handed  sons  of  the 
town  to  enlist  in  the  armies  ;  liberal  bounties  were 
offered  them  in  money ;  clothing  was  provided ;  they 
were  exempted  from  taxation ;  and  their  families  were 
provided  for  during  their  absence,  so  that  none  should 
want.  But  the  time  came,  at  length,  when  they  felt 
that  they  were  repaid  for  all  their  sacrifices  and  priva- 
tions ;  the  war  was  ended,  and  their  liberties  were 
secured. 

In  January,  1778,  the  town  considered  at  length, 
and  with  much  debate,  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
which  Congress  had  submitted  to  the  country ;  and, 
in  their  action  upon  them,  partly  approved,  disap- 
proved in  part,  and  proposed  various  amendments. 

In  the  same  year,  they  unanimously  voted  their 
rejection  of  the  State  Constitution  proposed  by  the 
General  Court,  though  they  could  not  agree  upon  a 
report  embodying  the  grounds  upon  which  they 
rejected  it.  A  large  Committee,  of  which  Colonel 
Doolittle  was  Chairman,  submitted  an  elaborate  report 
to  the  town  on  the  subject,  which  was  not  accepted; 
and  when  another  large  Committee  had  been  appointed, 
and  submitted  another  report,  it  was  found  no  more 
satisfactory  than  that  of  their  predecessors.* 

The  contest  with  England  was  hardly  well  ended, 
before  other  dangers  threatened,  scarcely  less  formida- 
able.  The  long  war  had  exhausted  the  country.  The 
habits  which  war  naturally  induces  had  unfitted  many 

*  Town  Records. 


55 


for  steady  industry,  and  a  ready  obedience  to  law; 
"  the  yoke  of  old  authorities  had  been  thrown  off,  and 
men  were  not  prompt  to  bow  their  necks  to  a  new 
one,  though  contrived  with  wisdom  and  equity,  and 
imposed  by  kind  and  impartial  hands."     There  was 
no  currency.     Individuals  were  in  debt :  so  were  the 
government.     Wild  expectations  had  been  indulged 
in,  of  the  immediate  and  happy  results  of  emancipa- 
tion from  British  rule.     These  false  or  exaggerated 
hopes  meeting  with  disappointment,  the  real  causes  of 
disappointment  were  not  well  understood.     Disorders 
arose.     The  people  knew  that  things  were  not  well : 
they  knew  not  why.     It  was  not  very  strange  that 
many  should  attribute  the  distressed  condition  of  the 
country  to  bad  management  in  the  government,  or 
that  jealousies  should  arise  towards  those  who  were 
supposed  to  possess  the  power  to  remedy  the  existing 
evils,  and  yet  did  not  use  it.     Out  of  these  causes 
arose  what  is  known  commonly  as  the  Shaj/s  Rebel- 
lion ;  an  insurrectionary  movement,  pretty  much  with- 
out plan  in  its  origin,  and  which  tended,  during  its 
progress,  to  no  specific  results  of  importance.     The 
disaffection  towards  the  government  was  greatest  in 
the  interior  and  western  parts  of  the  State.     It  was 
felt  here ;  indeed,  an  uneasy  feeling  prevailed  through- 
out the  Commonwealth,  and  society  was  unsettled  in 
its  foundations.      Nearly  all  classes  saw  that  there 
were  evils  to  be  redressed ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
citizens  of  this  town  were  assiduous,  with  petitions  and 
other  means,  to  hasten  and  guide  the  action  of  the 
Legislature  towards  measures  of  relief:  but  not  the 


56 


majority,  not  a  very  large  number,  could  see  how  relief 
was  to  come  by  arming  themselves,  and  resisting  the 
government.  There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  it 
was  because  the  insurrection  had  more  adherents  here 
than  elsewhere,  that  their  forces  fled  hither,  when 
hotly  pressed  in  other  quarters.  The  nominal  head 
and  recognized  leader  of  the  insurgents  was  Daniel 
Shays,  a  person  without  any  of  those  qualities  which 
indicate  one  born  to  command,  or  one  fitted  to  take 
the  conduct  of  important  aft  airs. 

After  various  gatherings,  risings,  outbreaks  of  vio- 
lence, and  instances  of  armed  interference  with  the 
courts.  Shays  found  himself,  at  length,  with  about  two 
thousand  men  around  him,  at  Pclham,  in  Hampshire 
County,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1787;  and  General 
Lincoln,  with  a  strong  force,  set  down  in  his  front. 

On  Saturday  morning,  Feb.  3d,  there  was  some  par- 
leying between  the  two  forces,  but  no  change  in  the 
posture  of  affairs.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
word  was  brought  to  General  Lincoln  at  Hadley, 
that  Shays  had  secretly  decamped,  and  that  he  was 
retreating,  with  his  followers,  towards  Petersham, 
where,  it  was  given  out,  he  would  be  strengthened  by 
large  additions  to  his  force  from  the  towns  around, 
and  would  make  a  stand.  General  Lincoln  put  his 
troops  in  instant  pursuit.  By  eight  o'clock,  they  were 
in  motion.  The  early  part  of  the  night  was  light,  and 
the  weather  not  inclement  for  the  season.  But,  about 
two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  they  having 
advanced  as  far  as  Xew  Salem,  a  "vaolcnt  and  intensely 
cold  wind  sprang  up  in  the  north   and  north-west, 


57 


accompanied  with  snow.  For  the  distance  of  eight 
miles,  —  between  New  Salem  and  this  place,  —  there 
was  no  means  of  obtaining  shelter.  The  snow  filled 
their  path,  and  the  biting  blasts  froze  their  limbs ; 
they  could  not  stop  to  take  refreshment,  on  account 
of  the  danger  of  freezing  to  death ;  there  was  no  alter- 
native but  to  continue  their  march.  Thirty  miles 
they  travelled,  from  Hadley  to  Petersham,  through 
snow  and  cold ;  executing,  says  the  historian,  one  of 
the  most  indefatigable  marches  that  ever  was  per- 
formed in  America.  None  of  the  men  perished ;  but 
a  great  number  were  severely  frost-bitten  :  indeed,  the 
greater  portion  of  Lincoln's  men  were  frozen  in  some 
part  or  other,  many  of  them  very  seriously ;  and  "  the 
sufferings  of  that  dreadful  night-march  to  Petersham 
were  long  remembered  and  spoken  of  in  this  part  of 
the  country."  The  pursuing  troops  reached  this  town 
about  nine  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  where  they  were  so- 
little  expected,  that  they  found  Shays's  men,  who  had 
arrived  the  night  before,  unconcernedly  cooking  and 
eating  their  breakfasts.  So  secure  were  they,  in  the 
imagined  impossibility  of  such  a  pursuit  as  their  ene- 
mies had  made,  that  they  had  even  neglected  to  post 
proper  guards  and  sentinels,  and  were  taken  entirely 
by  surprise.  Their  kettles  were  left  hanging  over  the 
fires ;  in  some  instances  without  their  arms,  in  others 
but  partially  clothed  even,  they  fled,  singly  or  in 
squads,  scattering  in  all  directions.  The  larger  num- 
ber turned  towards  Athol,  and  thence  in  the  direction 
of  Northfield.  But  there  was  no  farther  gathering  in 
any  considerable  strength.     The   rout  was    so    com- 


58 


plete,  that  they  were  utterly  broken  and  dispirited. 
About  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  made  prisoners; 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  body  would  have  been 
captured,  doubtless,  but  for  the  blocking  snow,  which 
prevented  Lincoln's  pouring  his  men  rapidly  into  the 
town.  The  captives,  —  excepting  the  officers,  —  on 
their  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,  were  at  once 
released,  and  received  passports  to  enable  them  to 
return  to  their  respective  towns.* 

The  ecclesiastical  aff'airs  of  the  to^vn  demand  here 
a  brief  survey.  Mr.  Whitney,  as  was  before  men- 
tioned, was  peremptorily  excluded  from  the  town's 
pulpit.  He  continued,  till  near  the  end  of  his 
life,  to  hold  religious  services  at  his  own  house. f 
He  survived  his  expulsion  about  four  years,  and  died 
in  1779,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  Mr.  Whitney  was 
a  native  of  Littleton,  in  this  State,  and  a  son  of 
Moses  Whitney,  of  that  place.  He  was  born  in  1714, 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1737,  and  was 
ordained  minister  of  the  plantation  of  Nichewaug  in 
December,  1738.  He  received  the  lot  numbered  four- 
teen, among  the  lots  drawn  by  the  original  proprietors, 
at  his  settlement,  and  built  a  dwelling  upon  it.  His 
house  stood  a  few  rods  south  and  west  of  that  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  George  White,  Esq. ;  while 
his  farm  embraced  a  considerable  tract  of  land,  extend- 


*  Minot'3  History;  Bowcn's  Biography  of  Gen.  Lincoln,  in  Sparks's  Biographies; 
newspapers  of  the  period.  —  See  Appendix  I. 

t  Mr.  Whitney  claimed  to  be  the  minister  of  the  town  up  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
Whatever  basis  the  claim  might  have  had  ecclesiastically  viewed,  it  was  practically  a 
barren  one,  as  the  town  proceeded  as  if  the  ministerial  office  were  vacant. 


59 


ing  chiefly  to  the  south  and  west  of  the  house,  — 
the  farm  subsequently  owned  and  occupied  by  two  of 
his  successors.*  Mr.  Whitney  appears  not  to  have 
been  one  of  those  who  make  prominent  the  peculiari- 
ties of  a  sect ;  and  he  seems  to  have  been  universally 
respected  for  his  virtues.  The  records  of  the  church 
made  during  his  ministry,  though  they  are  very  brief 
and  incomplete,  indicate  that  the  church  was  gene- 
rally in  a  state  of  harmony  and  prosperity.  He  was 
very  successful  as  a  farmer;  and  the  improvements 
which  he  made  upon  his  land,  particularly  by  judi- 
cious drainage,  were  such  as  to  become  the  subject  of 
frequent  public  comment,  and  are  still  mentioned  by 
the  aged  as  among  the  traditions  they  received  from 
their  fathers.f  He  had  a  numerous  family,  and  edu- 
cated four  sons  at  Harvard  College;  one  of  whom. 
Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  settled  in  the  ministry  at  North- 
borough,  was  the  historian  of  his  native  county.  De- 
scendants, through  several  generations,  have  followed 
him  in  the  pastoral  office,  and  the  line  is  not  yet 
extinct.^  Councils  were  called  to  consider  the  relations 
of  Mr.  Whitney  to  the  town ;  but  no  record  of  them 
has  been  preserved.     Tradition  says,  that  one  ecclesi- 


*  Mr.  Reed  and  Mr.  Willson. 

t  See  Appendix  F.  —  One  of  the  productions  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney's  farm  was 
deemed  such  a  curiosity  in  its  time,  that  numerous  visitors  came  from  a  distance  to  see 
it,  and  scientific  naturalists  studied  it  as  a  wonder.  This  was  an  apple-tree,  whose 
fruit  was  sour  upon  one  side,  and  sweet' on  the  other.  The  tree  stood  south  from  Mr. 
Whitney's  dwelling,  a  little  way  north  from  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Daniel 
Stowell.  An  account  of  it  was  written  by  Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  of  Northborough,  and 
sent  to  President  Willard,  of  Harvard  University,  who  was  also  President  of  the 
American  Academy.  It  may  be  found  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy,  vol.  i. 
p.  386. 

X  Appendix  K. 


60 


astical  Council,  after  declaring  the  pastor's  moral  and 
religious  character  blameless,  and  his  ministerial  fide- 
lity unimpeachable,  closed  by  adding,  that  nevertheless, 
inasmuch  as  he  was  the  "  enemy  of  his  country,"  it 
was  judged  expedient  that  his  connection  with  the 
town  and  church  be  dissolved.*  This  was  probably 
in  1777.  It  is  certain,  at  least,  that  a  mutual  Council 
did  meet  sometime  in  that  year,  and  advised  the  disso- 
lution of  the  connection  between  the  church  and 
pastor.  Up  to  this  time,  the  church  would  seem 
to  have  adhered,  for  the  most  part,  to  their  minister ; 
and  had  indeed  voted  formally,  though  not  without 
opposition,  that  they  were  satisfied  with  him,  notwith- 
standing the  course  he  had  taken  in  various  matters 
of  public  controversy.  After  the  action  of  this  Coun- 
cil, separating  him  from  his  pastorship,  most  of  the 
members  of  the  church,  belonging  to  the  families  of 
his  political  friends,  took  letters  of  dismission,  and 
scattered  to  the  churches  of  the  neighboring  towns. 
The  war  possessed  an  absorbing  interest ;  dissensions 
disturbed  the  Christian  fold  ;  attempts  at  conciliation 
were  attended  Avith  only  half  success,  which  was  vir- 
tual failure,  and  the  institutions  of  religion  were  much 
neglected.  Preachers  were  hired,  from  time  to  time, 
however;  and  in  November,  1777,  the  church  gave 
an  invitation  to  Mr.  Eeuben  Holcombf  to  become 
their  minister,  which  invitation  was  declined.  Other 
preachers  came  and  went,  during  two  or  three  years, 

*  Councils  had  been  held  previously,  which  had  arrived  at  results  less  satisfactory 
to  the  town,  though  it  is  not  known  precisely  what  they  were. 

t  Mr.  Ilolcomb  afterwards  settled  in  Sterling,  Mass.,  of  which  town  ho  was  the 
minister  thirty-five  years. 


61 


till,  early  in  1780,  an  invitation  was  extended  to  Mr. 
John  JEleed.  This  invitation  was  also  declined,  he 
having  another  invitation  at  the  same  time,  which  he 
preferred  to  accept.*  Very  soon  after  Mr.  John  Reed 
had  answered  the  call  to  settle  here  in  the  negative, 
a  like  call  was  extended  to  his  younger  brother,  Solo- 
mon Reed ;  and  it  received  a  favorable  answer. 

Rev.  Solomon  Reed,  the  second  minister  of  this 
town,  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Solomon  Reed,  of  Framing- 
ham,  and  was  born  in  that  tov^ni  in  1752.  He  gra- 
duated at  Yale  College  in  1775,  and  was  ordained  in 
this  place  on  the  28th  of  October,  1780 ;  —  "a  beauti- 
ful autumnal  day,"  says  one  on  whose  memory  the 
circumstances  of  that  day  yet  remain  vividly  stamped. 
He  was  dismissed  from  his  ministry  on  the  25th  of 
June,  1800,  and  died  on  the  second  day  of  February, 
1808,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 

In  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Reed,  the  diiferences  by 
which  the  church  had  been  disturbed  were  amicably 
adjusted.  On  the  one  hand,  regrets  and  disapproba- 
tion were  expressed  at  the  treatment  Mr.  Whitney  had 
been  subjected  to,  particularly  in  exacting  from  him 
military  duties  and  taxation ;  and5  on  the  other  side, 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Whitney  came  forward,  and  united 
in  friendly  relations  with  those  who  had  been  their 
opponents.     Thus  the  parties  which  had  been  so  long 


*  Mr.  Reed  was  settled  in  West  Bridgewater,  where  he  fulfilled  a  ministry  of  half 
a  century.  He  was  a  man  of  eminence  in  other  walks  than  those  of  his  profession, 
filling,  for  six  years,  the  office  of  Representative  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Sacred  Theology  from  Brown  University,  in  1803, 
and  was  the  author  of  many  published  occasional  Discourses,  as  well  as  of  a  work  on 
Baptism. 


62 


alienated,  as  a  chronicler  of  the  event  expressed  it, 
"  hung  the  harp  on  the  mllow,  and  united,"  —  q,  figure 
of  speech,  it  is  presumed,  which  had,  in  the  writer's 
mind,  much  the  same  sense  as  that  of  burying  the 
hatchet,  or  the  other  of  beating  their  swords  into 
ploughshares. 

I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  characterize  Mr.  Reed  in 
the  language  of  one  who  remembers  him  well,  and 
than  whom  few  could  have  had  better  opportimities 
of  knowing  him.  "  He  was  a  man,"  says  the  venerated 
ex-pastor  of  the  church  in  Deerfield,  "  of  superior 
mental  power ;  of  great  independence  and  freedom  in 
his  conduct  and  modes  of  expression ;  often  hyperbo- 
lical in  conversation;  argumentative,  and  generally 
serious  and  impressive,  in  his  public  discourses.  Un- 
happily, he  bargained,  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry, 
for  a  very  large  farm,  for  which  he  was  never  able  to 
pay ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  he  was  too  much 
embarrassed,  during  the  whole  of  his  ministry,  to  have 
either  time,  or  quietness  of  mind,  for  regular  study ; 
and  these  embarrassments  of  mind  led  indirectly  to 
his  dismission. 

"  Mr.  Reed,  soon  after  his  ordination,  was  married 
to  Miss  Susanna  Willard,  daughter  of  Colonel  Josiah 
Willard,  of  Winchester,  N.H. ;  and,  in  outward  per- 
son, they  were,  I  think,  the  most  gigantic  couple  I 
ever  saw  together.  It  might  be  too  much  to  say  that 
their  minds  were  in  full  proportion  to  their  visible 
frames ;  but  they  were  both  distinguished  for  tlieir 
mental  powers,  and  she  was  deservedly  esteemed  and 
beloved.     They  liad   a  numerous  family  of  children, 


63 


most  of  whom  survived  both  their  parents,  and  were 
valuable  members  of  society." 

It  may  be  added,  that  Mr.  Reed,  though  nominally 
of  the  Calvinistic  school  in  theology,  did  not  hold  the 
system  of  that  school  in  its  integrity ;  and  was,  like 
his  predecessor,  rather  incliried  to  urge  the  practical 
than  the  metaphysical  aspects  of  the  Christian  religion 
upon  his  hearers. 

That  a  kindly  relation  subsisted  between  Mr.  Reed 
and  his  flock,  up  to  the  end  of  his  ministry ;  that  the 
occasion  for  its  termination  w^as  sincerely  lamented  by 
the  people ;  and  that  any  frailty  of  will  which  may 
have  hindered  his  ministerial  usefulness  was  more 
compassionated  than  censured  by  them,  —  is  attested 
by  the  fact,  that  the  proposition  to  dissolve  the  con- 
nection originated  with  him ;  and  that  no  charge 
whatever  against  his  moral  or  ministerial  character 
was  laid  before  the  Council  called  to  dismiss  him. 

The  first  symptoms  of  a  change  from  congregational 
to  choir  singing,  in  the  public  worship,  began  to  show 
themselves  about  the  year  1778.  In  the  summer  of 
'79,  a  town-meeting  was  held,  at  which  one  of  the 
articles  for  action  was  "  to  see  if  the  town  will  appro- 
priate the  two  hind  seats  on  the  lower  floor,  on  the 
men's  side  of  the  alley,  to  the  use  of  a  number  of  peo- 
ple that  will  set  in  said  seats  and  sing;  and  allow 
the  said  singers  to  build  a  door  at  each  end  of  said 
seats,  provided  they  build  said  doors  on  their  own 
cost ;  and  that  said  singers  do  not  have  the  privilege 
of  said  seats  any  longer  than  they  will  carry  on  sing- 


64 


ing;  and  that  said  singers  be  not  disturbed  in  the 
peaceful  possession  of  said  seats."  Certainly  not  a 
very  presuming  proposition  this,  which  came  from 
"  a  number  of  people  "  willing  to  sing !  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  seats  petitioned  for  were  regarded  as 
particularly  eligible.  They  were  at  the  back  side  of 
the  house,  and  the  front  was  generally  deemed  prefer- 
able. But  then  they  would  have  doors  (if  the  occu- 
pants would  pay  for  them),  and  so  far  there  would  be 
a  certain  honorable  exclusiveness  in  their  position. 
However  all  this  might  be,  the  town  was  not  disposed 
to  be  exacting ;  and  therefore  voted,  with  a  gracious 
liberality,  that  "  whenever  a  sufficient  number  of  per- 
sons shall  associate  together,  to  fill  the  two  hind  seats 
on  the  lower  floor,  on  the  men's  side,  for  the  melodious 
purpose  of  improving  their  voices,  and  carrying  on 
such  part  of  publick  worship  on  the  sabbath  and  other 
divine  service  as  is  done  by  singing,  that  such  persons 
shall  then  have  full  liberty  to  erect  a  pew,  at  their  own 
expenses,  on  the  ground  where  said  seats  are ;  and 
may  enjoy  the  same,  during  their  performance  as 
singers  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  town.'''  This  unparal- 
leled generosity  on  the  part  of  the  to^ai,  we  may 
conclude,  was  duly  appreciated,  and  thankfully  ac- 
cepted, by  the  party  interested.  The  habit  of  choosing 
choristers  had  begun  a  dozen  years  earlier  than  this. 
The  first  choristers  chosen  in  this  town,  three  in 
number,  were  Joseph  Gleason,  James  Gleason,  and 
James  Wheeler. 

The  town  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  building 
a  new  meeting-house  about  the  time  of  ]Mr.  Reed's  set- 


65 


tlement,  in  1780.  Two  or  three  years  passed  in 
preparatory  discussions  and  canvassings.  It  was  not 
till  near  the  end  of  1783,  that  any  definite  action  in 
favor  of  building  was  set  on  foot  by  the  town ;  and, 
even  then,  many  steps  and  countersteps,  actions  and 
counteractions,  had  to  be  taken,  before  the  design 
was  carried  out*  In  1785,  it  was  determined  that 
it  should  have  a  belfry;  and  a  special  Committee 
of  five  was  chosen,  in  addition  to*  the  regular  Building 
Committee,  "  to  manage  the  matter  of  building  the 
belfry."  Then  it  was  voted,  a  few  months  later,  to 
"  disannull "  altogether  this  vote  to  build  a  belfry  ; 
and,  two  thirds  of  a  year  after  that,  the  town  disan- 
nulled its  disannulment,  and  renewed  its  vote  to  build. 
The  house  was  probably  in  such  a  state  of  forward- 
ness as  to  be  used  as  early  as  1788,  though  there 
appear  to  have  been  further  works  upon  it  during  some 
four  or  five  years  succeeding.  The  edifice  was  finally 
made  complete  in  its  appointments  by  a  gift  of  a  bell 
from  Eleazer  Bradshaw,  Esq.,  of  Brookfield.  Most 
of  us  remember  this  house,  as  having  stood  about  in 
the  centre  of  the  Common,  nearly  in  front  of  the  pre- 
sent meeting-house  of  the  First  Parish,  bearing  a  little 
to  the  north  perhaps.  Those  who  remember  it,  as  it 
was  thirty  years  ago,  will  remember  that  it  had  ori- 
ginally a  simple  balcony  and  turret  above  the  belfry  ; 
a  far  less  imposing  structure  than  the  tall  and  orna- 


*  The  late  Mr.  Wing  Spooner  told  me,  that  the  very  large  and  heavy  timbers  of 
which  the  frame  of  this  house  was  constructed  were  drawn  to  the  building-place  on  a 
snow-crust,  on  the  22d  of  April;  and  that  two  months  from  that  day,  June  22,  the 
farmers  had  commenced  their  haying. 

9 


66  * 


mented  spire,  which,  for  the  last  fifteen  or  eighteen 
years  that  it  stood,  graced  its  tower.  About  seven 
years  ago,  this  house,  having  been  deprived  of  its  tower 
and  spire,  and  removed  to  the  east  side  of  the  Com- 
mon, and  fitted  up  for  secular  uses,  was  consumed  in 
one  of  those  two  desolating  fires*  which  were  the 
most  calamitous  blows  that  the  prosperity  of  this  com- 
munity ever  sufiered. 

There  was  no  per'nta7ienf  church  or  parochial  orga- 
nization in  this  town,  distinct  from  the  town  and  the 
first  Congregational  Church,  during  the  last  century. 
A  Baptist  Church  was  in  existence,  in  the  south- 
westerly part  of  the  town,  during  the  time  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  at  least  ten  years  later :  it 
had  for  i'ts  ministers  a  Mr.  Dennis  and  a  Mr.  Sellon, 
and  probably  others.  There  are  no  records,  kno^vn  to 
be  preserved,  of  the  date  of  its  organization,  or  of  its 
history.  Its  house  of  worship  stood  on  the  declivity 
of  the  hill  descending  to  the  Factory  Village,  so  called, 
near  the  spot  for  some  time  occupied  by  the  store  of 
the  late  Mr.  John  L.  Gallond.  The  meetincr-house 
was  subsequently  removed  to  Dana,  where  it  was  for 
some  time  occupied  by  the  same  Baptist  Church,  and 
afterwards,  it  is  believed,  by  the  Universalist  denomi- 
nation :  it  has  now  ceased  to  be  put  to  church  pur- 
poses. 

About  the  year  1783,  the  singular  sect  called 
Shakers  made  their  appearance  here.  Some  persons 
of  substance  joined  them,  and  large  numbers  attended 

*  See  Appendix  M.     Casualtie.a,  Ac. 


67 


their  meetings,  —  some  from  curiosity,  some  from  bet- 
ter motives  than  that,  others  from  worse.  One  of  their 
principal  gathering-places  was  the  house  now  occupied 
by  Mr.  Daniel  Ward,  then  the  residence  of  Mr.  Tho- 
mas Hammond.  If  we  may  credit  the  affidavits,  and 
various  testimony,  of  several  who  were  then  with 
them,  but  who  afterwards  left  them,  their  proceedings 
were  scarcely  better  than  the  orgies  of  Pandemonium. 
So  excited  was  the  opposition  at  length  aroused  against 
them,  in  the  popular  feeling,  that  a  mob  collected  about 
their  place  6f  resort,  and  they  were  violently  assaulted. 
Mother  Ann  Lee  is  said  to  have  fought  Aaliantly 
against  the  assailants  in  person.  The  Shakers, 
though  at  one  time  considerably  numerous  in  the 
vicinity,  obtained  no  permanent  foothold  in  Peters- 
ham, nor  had  they  at  any  time  a  Society  established 
here.*  One  of  your  aged  citizens  f  tells  me  he 
remembers  "  when  there  was  more  Shaker  travel  by 
his  house,  than  all  the  present  travel." 

After  the  dismission  of  Eev.  Mr.  Peed,  which  took 
place  June  25,  1800,  the  town  was  without  a  minister 
a  little  more  than  a  year,  when  Mr.  Festus  Foster  was 
settled  as  the  third  minister  of  the  town ;  in  which 
office  he  continued  till  near  the  end  of  the  vear  1817. 


*  "  Summary  View  of  the  Millennial  Church,"  &c.,  published  by  order  of  its 
ministers,  pp.  20-22,  41,  68,  69;  "Portraiture  of  Shakerism,"  by  Mary  M.  Dyer; 
traditions.  The  character  known  as  "  Hermit  Allen,"  whose  eccentric  life  is  a  matter 
of  familiar  tradition,  sometime  belonged  to  them.  He  lived  by  himself,  after  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Shakers,  in  a  hut  in  the  fields  south  of  the  Clapp  Spooner  Place;  and, 
as  he  sat  among  the  boughs  of  his  butternut-tree,  in  the  calm  summer  nights,  and  gave 
voice  to  the  wildest  chants  of  a  becrazed  fanaticism,  his  vociferations  are  said  to  have 
been  heard  miles  away,  through  the  still  air. 

t  Mr.  George  Bosworth. 


68 


Mr.  Foster's  ministry  covered  a  period  of  the  most 
intense  political  excitement ;  an  excitement  in  which 
the  people  of  this  town  took  an  earnest  part.  The 
questions  and  measures  then  in  controversy  were 
looked  on  by  many  wise  and  good  men  as  fraught 
with  the  most  vital  consequences  to  the  nation.  I 
will  attempt  no  elaborate  explanations  of  the  position 
of  parties  at  this  period,  or  try  to  follow  the  various 
courses  of  dispute  which  convulsed  many  a  parochial 
community,  as  they  did  rock  the  very  foundations  of 
the  government,  and  threaten  the  peace  and  welfare 
of  the  country.  Such  as  have  the  disposition  can 
read  that  chapter  of  history  elsewhere. 

In  those  controversies,  the  pastor  of  this  church 
became  involved.  We  will  not  revive  them  to-day; 
nay,  w^e  will  question  the  right  of  any  one  to  be  called 
a  true  son  of  the  town,  who  shall  ever  revive  them  as 
our  local  controversies.  We  will,  as  we  have  a  mind, 
recall  them  in  genial  and  pleasant  mood,  to  hang 
green  ivj  over  their  unsightly  rents  and  deformities  ; 
but,  such  as  they  were,  let  these  places  know  them  no 
more  for  ever. 

Rev.  Mr.  Foster  was  the  son  of  Standish  Foster, 
and  was  born  in  Canterbury,  Conn.,  September  30, 
1776.  He  remained  on  his  father's  fann  till  the  age 
of  eighteen.  His  family,  about  that  time,  removing 
to  E-owe,  Mass.,  he  was  there  prepared  for  College, 
under  the  tuition  of  E,ev.  Preserved  Smith,  the  minis- 
ter of  that  town,  and  was  graduated  at  Williams  Col- 
lege in  the  year  1800. 

After  leaving  College,  he  took  charge  of  a  Grammar 


69 


School  in  Pittsfield,  meanwhile  entering  on  studies 
preparatory  for  the  ministry,  under  the  directidn  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Lathrop,  of  West  Springfield.  He  was 
ordained  in  this  place,  Jan.  13,  1802,  and  was  dis- 
missed Nov.  26,  1817. 

Mr.  Foster  removed  to  Brimfield  in  the  spring  of 
1818,  and  engaged  there  in  mercantile  pursuits  for  a 
time ;  afterward  settled  upon  a  farm  in  the  same  town, 
on  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
died  on  the  30th  of  April,  1846. 

Mr,  Foster  always  took  an  interest  in  public  affairs, 
and  filled  several  principal  town-oflaces  in  Brimfield, 
besides  representing  that  town  two  years  in  the  State 
Legislature.  He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  intellect,  and 
knew  how  to  put  his  thoughts  in  forcible  words.  As 
a  reasoner,  he  was  able,  acute,  and  ingenious ;  and  he 
wielded  a  dangerous  weapon  —  as  well  dangerous  to 
him  who  carries  it,  as  to  him  whom  it  wounds  —  in 
a  talent  for  keenest  sarcasm.  Under  the  irritating  pro- 
vocations of  sharp  personal  controversy,  he  did  not  find 
it  easy  to  hold  such  a  faculty  always  in  check.  But, 
in  the  calmer  conferences  and  discussions  of  the  delibe- 
rative assembly  in  which  he  participated  later  in  life, 
that  gift  of  stings  would  appear  to  have  been  sparingly 
used,  if  used  at  all.  It  is  the  uniform  testimony  of 
his  contemporaries  in  the  General  Court,  that,  as  a 
debater,  he  commanded  attention  on  all  occasions,  and 
proved  himself  an  influential  and  useful  member  of 
that  body.  He  did  not  speak  often  ;  but,  waiting  till 
he  had  studied  his  subject  carefully  from  difierent 
aspects,  and  seen  it  by  the  light  which  other  minds 


70 


coiild  shed  upon  it,  he  seldom  failed  to  sum  up  the 
whole  matter  with  a  judicial  clearness,  comprehensive- 
ness, and  justness  of  view,  which  satisfied  and  con- 
vinced. 

Mr.  Foster's  social  qualities  were,  however,  quite  as 
distinguishing  traits  of  his  character  as  any  that  he 
possessed.  There  was  a  quickness  of  wit,  and  a  gene- 
ral freshness  and  raciness  in  his  conversation,  which 
made  his  talk  peculiarly  spirited  and  attractive. 

He  left  various  published  writings,  chiefly  Sermons 
and  occasional  Addresses. 

Of  the  successors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Foster  in  the  pas- 
toral office,  I  need  not  speak :  they  all  survive.* 

In  1823,  a  church  was  gathered  here,  and  a  society 
formed,  of  Calvinistic  faith;  the  church  consisting 
originally  of  sixteen  members.  The  house  of  worship 
which  they  now  occupy  was  built  about  twenty-five 
years  ago.     The  ministers  of  that  Society  have  been 


*  Their  names,  with  a  few  other  facts  and  dates,  we  give.     They  are  — 

Luther  Willson,  born  in  New  Braintree  in  1783;  a  graduate  of  Williams  College 
in  180";  for  some  years,  preceptor  of  Leicester  Academy;  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
in  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  from  1813  to  1817;  installed  at  Petersham,  June  23,  1819;  dis- 
missed, Oct.  18,  1834;  and  still  living  in  this  town. 

George  R.  Noyes,  a  native  of  Xewburyport;  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  1818; 
S.T.D.,  1839;  settled  in  Brookfield,  1827;  installed  in  Petersham,  October,  1834; 
elected  to  a  professorship  in  the  Theological  School  of  Harvard  University  in  1840, 
which  office  ho  continues  to  hold. 

Nathaniel  Gage,  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1822;  previously  pastor  at 
Nashua  and  at  Haverhill;  installed  in  Petersham,  Oct.  0, 1841 ;  dismissed  1845;  since 
of  Lancaster  and  Westborough. 

Ephraim  iVu?c,  jiun.,  ordained  Oct.  15,  1845;  dismissed  in  early  part  of  1848; 
since  settled  in  Scituate  and  Chicopee. 

Martin  W.  Willis,  ordained  at  Walpole,  N.H.,  in  autumn  of  1843;  installed  at 
Petersham,  May,  1818;  dismissed  1851;  since  pastor  at  Bath,  JIc.,  and  at  Nashua, 
N.H. 

John  J.  PiUnam,  present  pastor;  previously  settled  in  Bolton,  3Ias3.;  installed  in 
Petersham,  1852. 


71 


the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wokott,*  Tracy,f  Shumway,  Clark, 
and  Foster,  the  present  pastor.  The  Society  has  a 
pleasant  and  convenient  house  of  worship,  and  is  in 
a  prosperous  condition. 

In  November,  1824,  a  branch  of  the  Baptist  Church 
in  Athol  was  organized  in  this  town.  Their  minister, 
E,ev.  Thomas  Marshall,  residing  in  the  westerly  part 
of  the  town,  for  some  years  held  regular  weekly  sabbath 
services  ;  after  his  removal,  they  had  preaching  only  a 
part  of  the  time.  In  May,  1849,  this  branch  church 
assumed  an  independent  organization,  and  Rev.  John 
Shephardson  became  their  first  and  is  their  present 
pastor.  The  meeting-house  built,  and  occupied  for 
a  time,  by  the  Universalist  Society,  was  purchased  by 
this  (Baptist)  Society  in  1849,  and  is  now  their  house 
of  worship. 

A  Society  of  Universalists  was  organized  here  in 
1836  or  1837.  They  built  the  meeting-house  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  Baptist  Society,  about  the 
year  1838.  The  Society  had  two  clergymen  succes- 
sively settled  over  it,  —  Rev.  Messrs.  Willis  and 
Coolidge.  Since  the  year  1848  or  '49,  they  have  been 
without  preaching. 

A  Methodist  Society  was  formed  here,  some  years 
ago,  having  preaching  from  the  year  1843  to  '48  or  '49. 
They  built  a  small  chapel,  now  no  longer  used  as  a 
place  of  worship.  Their  ministers  were  Rev.  Messrs. 
Button,  Clarke,  and  Goodwin.     A  second  church  of 


*  Ordained  in  October,  1830;  dismissed  in  1833. 

t  Had  been  installed  in  North  Adams,  in  1832;  installed  in  Petersham,  June, 
1834. 


72 


Calvinistic  faith  was  gathered  in  town,  —  the  south- 
west part,  on  the  borders  of  Dana  and  Hardwick, 
about  the  year  1836  or  1837 ;  and  a  meeting-house 
was  built. 

It  is  a  ground  of  honest  pride,  that  we  can  say  of 
our  old  mother  to-day,  that  her  fame  has  always 
been  fair,  and  that  she  gives  none  of  her  children 
occasion  to  be  ashamed  at  the  mention  of  her  name. 
We  can  celebrate  her  birthday,  without  wishing  to 
conceal  or  to  falsify  any  part  of  her  history.  There 
is  as  little  in  her  story,  which  filial  affection  could 
wish  unremembered  or  blotted,  as  in  that  of  almost 
any  town  of  the  Commonwealth. 

From  the  beginning,  this  town  has  sustained  more 
than  a  respectable  reputation  for  intelligence,  for 
patriotism,  and  for  public  virtue.  Her  schools  have 
not  been  neglected.  The  annual  appropriations  for 
church  and  school  stand  uniformly  side  by  side,  from 
the  first,  till  the  time  when  the  support  of  religion 
was  separated  from  civil  affairs  altogether,  and  became 
wholly  voluntary.  At  first  the  Selectmen,  afterwards 
a  Committee  chosen  by  the  town  for  the  purpose, 
were  entrusted  with  the  expenditure  of  this  money. 

Among  the  earliest  schoolmasters  here  were  Joel 
Mathews,  Jt^dediah  Parker,  Dr.  Eleazar  Hartshorn, 
Nathan  Stone,  Alexander  McDowell,  Abraham  Wood, 
Ensign  Man,  jNIanassch  Smith,  and  Dr.  Bennet  Wait. 
Se\'eral  of  these  names  are  found  upon  the  Catalogues 
of  Harvard  and  other  Colleges :  some  of  those  who 


73 


bore  them  became  useful  pastors  of  churches,  and 
members  of  the  other  professions. 

I  suppose  it  would  be  rather  more  difficult  to  trace 
the  names  of  the  school-dames  of  that  period  (as  they 
were  termed);  not  solely  because  they  are  not  recorded 
on  college  catalogues,  but  partly  because  women's 
names  resist  the  changes  of  time  less  sternly  than  do 
those  of  the  other  sex. 

The  earlier  schoolhouses  were  mostly  small  and 
inconvenient,  as  they  were  nearly  everywhere.  It  will 
show  the  progress  which  has  been  made  in  the  provi- 
sion of  school  accommodations,  to  state  here  a  fact 
given  me  by  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  viz.,  that  the  Bell 
Schoolhouse  (as  it  has  always  been  called),  when 
erected  in  1794,  surpassed  almost  every  structure  of 
its  kind  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  John  Chand- 
ler, Esq.,  at  whose  instance  chiefly  it  was  erected, 
gave  the  district  a  bell,  whose  vibrations  were  so 
powei*ful  as  to  be  heard  through  a  compass  of  several 
miles. 

Quite  a  respectable  number  from  the  natives  of  the 
town  have  been  educated  at  college ;  and  they  have 
been  not  only  respectable  in  their  aggregate  number, 
but  generally  of  respectable,  or  more  than  respectable, 
scholarship,  character,  and  influence.* 

This  town  occupied,  relativeJj/,  a  more  prominent 
position  in  the  last  century  than  it  has  held  of  late 
years.  In  1764,  when  the  population  of  Worcester 
was  1,450,  the  population  of  Petersham  was  half  as 

■♦  Appendix  L. 
10 


74 


large  as  that,  —  700 ;  there  were  then  in  Petersham, 
100  houses,  and  115  families. 

In  1776,  the  town,  had  a  white  population  of  1,235 ; 
an  increase,  in  twelve  years,  of  about  77  per  cent.  In 
1790,  the  population  was  1,560;  and,  in  1800,  1,794. 
Thus  we  see,  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, the  population  was  nearly  1,800 ;  about  as  large, 
I  suppose,  as  it  has  ever  been.  In  the  assessment  of  a 
State  tax,  levied  in  1796,  there  were  only  four  towns  in 
Worcester  County  that  paid  a  higher  tax  than  Peters- 
ham.* I  find  that  one  who  has  preceded  me  in  sketch- 
ing the  town's  history,f  in  remarking  that  the  town 
claimed,  in  1787,  to  have  enough  ratable  polls  to  entitle 
them  to  two  Representatives  in  the  General  Court, 
expresses  doubts  whether  they  were  not  mistaken  in 
their  estimate.  Not  to  lay  stress  on  the  fact,  that 
the  right  of  the  two  Representatives  to  their  seats  was 
not  contested  in  the  General  Court,  a  fact  which  he 
argues  is  not  conclusive,  I  think  the  town  mus£  have 
grown  to  a  greater  size  than  he  supposed.  The  num- 
ber of  ratable  polls  required  by  the  Constitution  to 
allow  two  Representatives  was  375.  In  1781,  Peters- 
ham had  313  ratable  polls,  and,  in  1784,  345  or  349 
(there  is  some  obscurity  in  the  record).  Taking  the 
lower  number  only,  the  increase  would  be  more  than 
ten  per  cent  in  three  years ;  and  ten  per  cent  increase, 
from  1784  to  '87,  would  give  four  or  five  more  than 
the  requisite  375. 


♦  Worcester,  Sutton,  Brookfield,  and  Barre.     Book  of  Statistics,  by  llev.  J.  B. 
Felt. 

t  Jared  Weed,  Esq. 


75 


The  prominent  position  which  this  town  held  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  is  farther  attested 
by  the  fact,  that  strenuous  and  persevering  eiforts 
were  made,  during  the  years  along  from  1785  to  '98, 
to  form  a  new  county,  with  this  for  the  shire-town. 
There  was  an  agreement  among  the  towns  petitioning, 
as  to  where  the  seat  of  the  county  should  be  fixed,  if 
their  petition  should  succeed  ;  which  would  probably 
not  have  been  the  case,  had  this  been  a  second-rate 
town  among  them.  The  petitions  of  1785  were  from 
Hardwick,  Barre,  Hubbardston,  Petersham,  Tem- 
pleton,  Winchendon,  Athol,  Royalston,  Warwick, 
Wendell,  New  Salem,  Shutesbury,  Orange,  and  Green- 
wich. The  latter  six  towns  were  not  then,  as  now, 
of  Franklin  County;  but  of  the  old,  undivided  Hamp- 
shire. In  subsequent  petitions,  citizens  of  Oakham, 
Gardner,  and  Gerry,  joined.  This  town  held  out  no 
other  inducement  for  the  establishment  of  the  county- 
seat  here,  than  to  offer  its  old  meeting-house  for  a 
court-house,  "  provided  Petersham  be  made  a  shire- 
town  within  two  years."  * 

Before  the  tendency  to  a  centralization  of  wealth, 
population,  and  talent  in  a  few  localities,  had  begun 
to  show  itself,  the  town  held,  in  all  respects,  not 
only  a  high  rank  among  the  country  towns,  but  it 
was  one  of  the  highest  in  social  refinement  and  gene- 
ral intelligence  in  this  section.  I  had  hoped  to  be 
able  to  sketch  some  of  the  characters  of  leading  influ- 
ence in  the  town  in  times  past.     I  have  time  to  name 

*  Town  Records. 


76 


but  a  few  of  them,  and  those  few  scarcely  more 
than  name.  Of  the  professional  men,  there  were,  for 
lawyers,  —  Joshua  Atherton.  He  staid  here  only 
about  three  years,  however,  from  1763  to  '68.  He 
became  distinguished  after  he  left  here,  and  filled 
honorable  and  important  offices  in  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  the  ancestor  of  those  of  the  name  who  have 
more  recently  attained  to  eminence  in  the  same  State 
and  in  the  nation.  —  Nathaniel  Chandler  (uncle  of 
the  late  Nathaniel  Chandler)  established  himself  here, 
in  the  same  profession,  about  1772,  and  continued  here 
till  the  breaking-out  of  the  Revolution.  In  the  war, 
he  joined  the  English,  and  commanded  a  corps  of 
volunteers  in  the  British  service  in  New  York.  He 
went  to  England  afterward,  returned  in  1784,  engaged 
in  trade  and  in  agricultural  pursuits  in  this  towTi,  but 
finally  removed  to  AYorccster  (from  which  place  he 
had  come  to  Petersham),  and  died  there.  His  talents 
were  of  a  high  order.  In  early  life,  he  had  been  a 
pupil  of  John  Adams.  "  His  j)ersonal  appearance 
was  pleasing ;  and  his  address,  and  great  flow  of  spi- 
rits, with  a  fertile  imagination,  rendered  him  a  great 
favorite  in  society."  *  He  lived,  I  think,  in  the  house 
where  the  late  Hutchins  Hapgood  lived  and  died.  — 
Next  was  Daniel  Bigelow.  He  was  a  native  of 
Worcester,  educated  at  Harvard  University.  For  a 
time,  he  taught  in  Worcester,  and  then  studied  law 
there.  He  opened  an  office  in  this  place  in  1780,  and 
remained  here  till  his  death,  in  1806.     He  represented 

*  Willard's  Address  before  the  Bar  of  the  County.    Diary  of  President  John  Adams. 


77 


this  town  in  the  General  Court  from  1791  to  1794  ; 
was  Senator  for  the  county  for  the  four  years  succeed- 
ing, and  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  in  1801 ; 
he  also  filled  the  office  of  County  Attorney.  "He 
shared  largely,"  says  Willard,*  "  in  the  esteem  of  his 
constituents,  for  his  sound  sense  and  for  his  integrity. 
Though  not  a  facile  speaker,  he  was  well  grounded  in 
his  profession,  and  was  respected  as  a  prudent  and 
safe  counsellor.  And,  more  than  all,  he  had  that 
maral  health,  that  fair  and  honorable  mind,  that  shed 
a  bright  lustre  upon  the  character."  —  Lewis  Bige- 
Low  was  a  son  of  Daniel  Bigelow,  succeeded  him  in 
his  profession  here,  and  inherited  his  abilities.  He 
was  a  native  of  this  town,  and  a  graduate  of  Wil- 
liams College  in  1803.  He  represented  this  district 
in  the  Seventeenth  Congress  of  the  United  States.  In 
his  profession,  he  was  well  read,  able,  and  successful. 
He  left  this  town,  for  the  Western  country,  in  the 
year  1831 ;  settled  in  Peoria,  111.,  where  he  died,  I 
think,  about  1838. 

A  lawyer,  named  John  Taylor,  was  in  practice 
here  forty-five  years  ago.  He  came  from  Hampshire 
County,  and  had  been  in  the  office  of  Governor 
Strong,  while  he  (Gov.  Strong)  was  in  Congress.f 

Of  the  livino^,  and  of  those  well  remembered  even 
by  the  young,  I  do  not  speak. 

Of  the  earliest  physicians,  I  can  say  little.  There 
were  two  teachers  here,  between  1762  and  1768,  to 
whose  names  the  title  of  Dr.  was  usually  prefixed.  — 

*  2\dclress  before  the  Bar  of  Worcester  County. 
t  Mrs.  Sarah  How's  MS. 


78 


Eleazer  Hartshorn  and  Bennet  Wait,  though  I 
know  not  whether  they  were  ever  in  the  practice  of 
medicine :  the  former  went  to  Athol,  but  I  am  un- 
able to  say  how  long  he  remained  there,  or  whether 
he  was  professionally  engaged  in  that  place.  —  Dr. 
Ephraim  Whitney,  probably  a  nephew  of  Rev.  Aaron 
Whitney,  and  a  native  of  Lunenburgh  or  Fitchburgh,* 
was  a  physician  here  many  years;  died  in  1801,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  He  was  a  Tory,  and  an 
eccentric  man ;  wore  his  beard  the  latter  part  of  tiis 
life,  and  left  directions  that  he  should  be  buried  with 
it  unshaven.  —  Dr.  Richard  P.  Bridge,  a  native  of 
Framingham,  and  son  of  the  minister  of  that  to"wn, 
superseded  Dr.  W^hitney  in  practice ;  was  regarded  as 
a  very  skilful  physician,  and  had  almost  the  entire 
practice  of  the  town  till  the  time  of  his  death.  He 
died  in  1797,  at  the  age  of  forty.  Dr.  Bridge  lived 
first  at  the  "  tan-yard  house,"  so  called,  and  afterwards 
bought  and  occupied  the  place  now  owned  by  Jonas 
How,  Esq.  —  A  physician,  by  the  name  of  Beckwith, 
practised  medicine  in  the  south-west  part  of  the  town, 
I  am  told,  between  the  years  1790  and  1800.  —  Dr. 
John  Flint,  a  son  of  Dr.  Edward  Flint,  of  Shrews- 
bury, and  a  native  of  that  town,  came  to  Petersham 
about  1801,  and  took  a  high  rank  in  his  profession. 
Fie  died,  greatly  lamented,  in  February,  1810,  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-two,  falling  a  victim  to  the  fright- 
ful "  spotted  fever  "  which  appeared  here  in  tliat  year. 
That  appalling  disease  was  generally  a  fatal  sickness 

*  Fitchburgh  was  set  off  from  Lunenburgh. 


79 


of  but  a  few  hours'  duration :  the  best  physicians 
confessed  themselves  at  fault.  Dr.  Flint  attended 
most  of  the  cases,  writing  at  the  same  time  to  skilful 
and  experienced  men  of  his  profession  abroad,  desiring 
their  attendaijce.  Consternation  and  gloom  pervaded 
the  town;  a  fast-day  was  appointed  and  observed; 
and  every  thing  betokened  the  presence  of  some  dire 
calamity.  Dr.  Flint,  when  seized,  was  at  some  dis- 
tance from  his  home,  and  immediately  administered  to 
himself  the  remedy  then  most  relied  on,  but  without 
the  desired  effect:  he  reached  home  with  difficulty, 
and  died  in  a  few  hours.  —  Dr.  Joseph  Henshaw 
Flint,  son  of  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  of  Leicester,  and 
nephew  of  the  foregoing,  succeeded  him  in  his  profes- 
sion here.  He  had  previously  practised  for  a  few 
years  in  Shrewsbury.  He  removed  to  Petersham 
about  1811,  whence  he  removed,  after  a  year  or  two, 
to  JSTorthampton,  and  thence  to  Springfield.  He  died 
in  Leicester,  in  1846.* 

Besides  those  filling  professional  offices,  were  other 
persons  prominent  for  their  intelligence  and  for  influ- 
ence, both  within  and  without  the  town.  Jonathan 
Grout,  who  was  from  Lunenburgh,  was  for  seven 
years  the  Representative  of  the  town  in  the  General 
Court ;  one  year  Representative  of  the  County  in  the 
Senate ;  and  a  member  of  the  first  Congress  under 
the  Constitution.  He  was  also  chosen  a  delegate  to 
the  Provincial  Congress,  held  at  Cambridge,  in  Febru- 
ary,  1775.      He  was  active  on  Committees  and   in 

*  Ward's  History  of  Shrewsbury. 


80 


other  ways ;  was  honored  with  various  trusts  during 
the  war  of  the  Ilevolution  ;  and  was  a  man  of  leading 
influence  on  the  Whig  side. 

Towards  the  east  side  of  the  town,  at  the  place 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  Brewer,  lived  and  died  Capt. 
William  Barron  ;  a  civil  magistrate,  a  gentleman 
of  refined  manners,  and  a  brave  soldier.  He  had 
served  in  the  English  army  with  credit,  before  the 
Revolution,  and  held  himself  bound  not  to  assume 
arms  against  the  king,  by  the  oath  of  allegiance  which 
his  commission  had  required  him  to  take.  He  sided 
with  the  royal  party  in  opinion  and  feeling,  during 
that  struggle,  though  he  did  not  engage  actively 
in  the  contest.  He  died  in  April,  1784,  greatly 
lamented.*  —  John  Chandler  (the  father  of  the  late 
brothers,  John  and  Nathaniel  Chandler)  was  born  in 
Worcester ;  was  a  brother  of  Nathaniel,  the  lawyer ; 
also  a  pupil,  in  early  life,  of  John  Adams ;  lived,  and 
carried  on  trade  extensively,  at  the  place  afterward 
occupied  by  his  son  Nathaniel,  and,  more  recently,  by 
Mr.  Rufus  Bryant.  In  1768,  he  represented  the  town 
in  the  Legislature ;  and,  at  various  times,  held  other 
offices  of  importance.  In  the  social  life  of  the  town, 
his  house  and  family  held  a  conspicuous  place.  —  The 
two  sons  of  Mr.  Chandler,  just  named,  John  and 
Nathaniel,  were  known  here,  in  the  earlier  part  of 
their  active  lives,  as  men  of  extensive  business,  of  large 
information,  of  great  enterprise,  and  of  prominent 
influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  town.     John,  the  elder, 

*  His  death  is  noticed,  and  his  character  briefly  eulogized,  in  the  "  Ma^'achusctts 
Spy"'  of  .May  6,-  ITsl. 


81 


was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1787 ;  and, 
in  the  full  vigor  of  his  powers,  was  active,  capable, 
public-spirited,  and  successful.  He  died  in  1846,  aged, 
about  eighty.  Nathaniel  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1792.  He  commenced  the  study  of  law 
with  the  Hon.  Daniel  Bigelow ;  but  relinquished  that 
study,  and  engaged  in  trade.  His  general  informa- 
tion, united  with  a  style  of  expression  often  pictu- 
resquely figurative,  made  his  conversation  at  once 
instructive  and  entertaining.  He  removed  to  Lancas- 
ter, I  think  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  and 
died,  within  a  few  years,  at  an  advanced  age. 

The  first  Representative  sent  by  this  town  to  the 
General  Coiu't  was  Joshua  Willard,  a  son  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Willard,  of  Lancaster,  and  brother  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Willard,  jun.  (one  of  the  first  proprietors  of 
this  town),  whose  farm  he  took,  after  his  death,  in 
1757.  He  represented  the  town  in  the  years  1761 
and  1763,  the  only  years  in  which  it  was  represented 
for  the  first  fourteen  years  after  its  incorporation.* 

Of  Ephraim  Doolittle,  I  have  already  spoken.  He 
came  here  from  Worcester,  before  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and,  not  long  after  its  close,  removed  to  Shore- 
ham,  Vt.,  where  he  died. 

There  are  many  more  of  whom  I  should  like  to  make 
particular  mention  ;  and  of  whom  I  would  speak,  if  I 

*  After  17G7,  the  towa  continued  to  be,  for  the  most  part,  regularly  represented 
in  the  General  Court.  In  1768,  the  usual  vote,  not  to  send,  was  passed;  but  the 
Selectmen  were  petitioned  to  call  a  new  meeting  subsequently,  and  John  Chandler 
was  chosen.  Theophilus  Chandler  was  chosen  in  1769;  Ruggles  Spooner  in  1770,  and 
again  in  1790.  There  is  no  record  of  any  election  in  1771.  Ephraim  Doolittle 
represented  the  town  in  1772,  '73,  and  '74;  Jonathan  Grrout,  in  1775  and  '77;  Capt. 
Elisha  Ward,  in  1776  and  '77. 

11 


/ 


82 


did  not  suppose  there  might  be  a  limit  to  your  patience, 
and  that  by  this  time  I  must  have  found  it.  Of  En- 
sign Man,  I  would  say  more.  I  would  speak  of  Dea- 
cons Isaac  Ward,  David  Sanderson,  and  William 
Willard ;  of  Captain  Park  Holland ;  of  Nathl.  Mac- 
carty,  who,  though  he  was  neither  born  nor  died  here, 
lived  in  town  long  enough  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in 
the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  place,  which  showed 
itself  in  generous  gifts  to  the  town  for  the  support  of 
public  worship.  I  would  speak  of  some  of  the  earliest 
of  the  Spooners,  Daniel,  Wing,  and  Ruggles ;  of  the 
Hapgoods,  Hows,  Neguses,  Goddards,  Wilders.  Ah, 
well !  I  see  not  where  would  end  the  list  of  them  of 
whom  I  would  speak,  were  there  time.  I  stop  ab- 
ruptly; not  because  my  subject  is  exhausted,  but 
because  I  am  sure  your  patience  must  be. 

Our  annals  are  humble,  as  you  see :  not  very  many 
noted  events  have  transpired  here.  The  farmers  and 
mechanics  of  the  town  have  pursued  their  vocations 
industriously,  living  generally  amid  peace  and  plenty. 
Agriculture  has  been  the  main  employment  of  the 
people,  than  which  none  is  more  favorable  to  health, 
content,  wholesome  morals,  and  a  quiet  life.  If  the 
inhabitants  of  this  town  have  sometimes  been  pretty 
warm  in  their  political  disputes,  they  have  been  uni- 
formly and  steadfastly  patriotic,  and  ever  ready  to  do 
and  to  sacrifice  their  part  for  the  common  weal. 

Some  not  unimportant  manufactures  have  been  car- 
ried on  here.  Who  shall  tell  —  somebody,  I  hope, 
will,  before  this  day's  sunset  —  how  largely  the  labors 


83 


of  the  women  of  this  town  have  contributed,  not 
merely  to  the  protection  of  manly  toil  beneath  the 
summer's  sun,  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  but  how 
much  they  have  contributed  to  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  this  town  ;  not  only  putting  hats  on  many  a 
head  abroad,  but  helping  to  put  coats  on  many  a  back, 
and  meat  in  many  mouths,  at  home "?  * 

Buttons  and  shoes  in  the  later  days,  pearlash  in 
the  former,  have  been  produced  here  to  a  considerable 
extent. 

In  the  time  of  the  war,  when  gunpowder  was  a 
prime  want,  the  town  undertook  the  production  of 
saltpetre  and  sulphur,  not,  I  believe,  with  great  suc- 
cess, or  to  much  profit.  It  was  not  the  hope  of  profit, 
however,  but  patriotism,  that  prompted  the  attempt. 

The  manufacture  of  salt  was  also  carried  on  by  the 
town  for  a  while,  down  at  Rochester  Shore,  when  an 
interrupted  commerce  prevented  the  supply  of  that 
important  article  from  abroad.  It  proved  burdensome, 
and  not  very  satisfactory  in  its  results,  and  was  ere 
long  abandoned. 

We  who  are  gathered  here  to-day  are  doubtless  a 
somewhat  different  type  of  men  and  women  from  the 
fathers  and  mothers  who  began  a  plantation  here  in 
1733,  and  a  town  in  1754.  Probably  they  who  meet 
here  to  celebrate  a  second  centennial,  in  1954,  will  as 
much  differ  from  us.  May  the  history  which  we  find 
well  begun  be  found  of  them  well  continued !     May 

*  The  manufacture  of  palm-leaf  hats  has  been  extensively  carried  on  in  this  place 
for  many  years.  The  hats  are  braided  by  women  and  children,  whose  labor  has  been, 
in  many  families,  sufficient  to  maintain,  wholly  or  in  great  part,  the  entire  house- 
hold. 


84 


the  venerable  old  town,  —  I  think  we  may  now  begin 
to  call  her  venerable,  —  may  she  receive  honor  both 
from  those  who  go  out  from  her,  and  from  those  who 
stay  at  home !  and  may  the  day  never,  never  come, 
when  one  shall  be  ashamed  to  say  that  he  had  his 
birthplace  within  her  borders  !  * 

*  Appendix  M. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


A.  — Page  9. 

TETITIOX   AND    GRANT. 

"  To  His  Excellency  Jonathan  Belcher  Esq"'  Captain  General 
&  Governour  in  Chief  In  &  Over  His  Majestis  Province  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  the  Hon'''''  the  Council  &  Representatives  In 
Gen"  Court  assembled  at  Boston  April  the  5th  1733 

"  The  memorial  of  John  Bennet  &  Jeremiah  Perley  for  them- 
selves and  the  Reste  of  the  persons  whose  Names  are  hereunto 
subscribed : 

'•  Hurabley  Showeth  That  whereas  your  memorialists  In  the 
month  of  January  1731  &  at  the  Beginning  of  this  present  session 
viz ;  In  May  laste  Severally  prefered  their  Petishons  or  memo- 
rials to  your  Except  &  Honours  seting  forth  the  Hardship  &  Diffi- 
cult marches  they  vnderwent  as  volunters  under  the  Comand  of 
the  Late  Cap"  Lovell  &  Cap"  White  after  the  Inden  Enemy  and 
Into  their  Countrey  &  praying  In  consideration  thereof  to  be  favour- 
ed with  the  Grant  of  a  township  &  as  by  the  several  Petishons 
aforsaid  will  fully  aper  unto  which  the  memorialistes  would  Refer,  & 
Inasmuch  as  Nothing  has  Ben  acted  or  Done  thareon  for  the  Benifit 
of  the  memorialists  by  your  Excellency  &  Honours  They  are  there- 
fore Nesesitated  once  more  to  apley  to  your  Exellency  &  Honours 
Humbley  praing  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  take  the  Case  of  the 
memorialists  into  your  wise  &  Gracious  Consideration  that  so  their 
former  petitions  may  be  Received  &  Reconsidered  &  that  they 
may  meet  with  Such  Due  Encouragement  for  their  Paste  Sarvis 
by  the  favour  of  your  Excellency  &  Honours  as  to  have  the  Grant 


88 


of  a  township  of  six  miles  square  in  the  unappropriated  Lands  of 
Province  thay  being  a  coraptent  Number  for  such  a  settlement ;  — 
&  the  place  which  they  are  Desirous  to  settle  on  if  it  be  your 
Excellency  &  Honours  Plesure  is  situated  In  the  Western  parte 
of  this  Province  beginning  six  miles  from  Rutland  northweste 
Corner  to  the  westward  thereof  and  Running  to  the  westward  six 
miles  &  bounding  southerly  on  Rutland  Township  which  will  leave 
and  well  accommodate  the  sellers  for  a  town  between  this  &  the 
Narowganset  township  your  memorialists  being  varry  willing  & 
desirous  to  be  subject  to  such  Conditions  Rules  &  Restrictions  in 
their  settlement  as  your  Excellency  and  Honours  shall  see  meet 
&  as  in  Duty  bound  shall  ever  pray  &c 

"  Benoni  Boyenten,  Moses  Hazzen,  William  Hutchins,  Caleb 
Dolton,  John  Hazzen,  Jacob  Perley,  Samuel  Stickney,  Phinias 
Foster,  Steven  Merril,  Benjamin  Barker,  Robart  Ford,  Abner 
Brown,  Samuel  Hilton,  John  White,  Benjamin  Wallker,  Joseph 
Reed,  John  Baker,  John  Goss,  Joseph  Wrighte,  Richard  Hall, 
Oliver  Pollard,  Samuel  Fletcher,  John  Dunton,  William  Spalding, 
John  Varnum,  John  Leveston  Junr.,  Joseph  Whelock,  Robarte 
Phelps,  Jonathan  Houghton,  Jacob  Emes,  Henry  Willard,  John 
Bennet,  Jeremiah  Perley,  &  in  behalf  of  Joshua  Hutchins,  Jathro 
Eames,  Jonas  Houghton,  Ezra  Sawyer,  James  Houghton,  Samuel 
Sawyer,  Aron  Rice,  Jonathan  *  Adams,  Moses  Chandler,  Samuel 
Rugg,  Jonathan  Atherton,  Ephraim  Houghton,  Jonathan  Wilson, 
Steven  Houghton,  Heirs  of  Samuel  Mossman,  Benjamin  Gates, 
Fairbanks  Moores,  Joseph  Whitcomb,  Samuel  Earned,  Danil 
Houghton,  Peter  Atherton,  John  Wilder,  Edward  Houghton,  Henry 
Houghton,  David  Whetcomb,  Timothy  Hale,  Jonathan  Parling, 
Samuel  Brown,  John  Sawyer,  Joseph  Willson,  Samuel  Willard, 
Ephraim  Farnsworth,  Edward  Hartwell,  Ruben  Farnsworth." 

When  the  General  Court  acted  on  the  above  memorial, 
they  required  the  following  persons  to  be  admitted  among 
the  projirietors,  viz.,  Thomas  Farmer,  Henry  Coulburn, 
Jonathan  Farrer,  Samuel  Shaddock,  Samuel  Trull  [some- 
times written  in  other  papers,  Tcrril],  Jacob  Corey,  Joshua 
Webster,  Abiel  Foster,  Samuel  Tarbol ;  and  the  following, 
among  the  petitioners  to  be  excluded  from  becoming  gran- 

*  Incorrectly  printed  Jonas,  on  page  15  of  the  Address. 


89 


tees,  viz.,  Edward  Hartwell,  Joseph  Wright,  Joseph  Whe- 
lock,  Robart  Phelps,  and  Jonathan  Houghton,  jun.  After 
the  nine  were  added  and  five  excluded,  the  whole  number 
was  seventy-one. 

On  page  15  of  the  Address  (note),  the  number  of  pro- 
prietors is  said  to  be  seventy -two.  This  is  a  mistake  :  there 
were  seventy-two  after  the  minister  had  settled  upon  his 
division ;  but  he  did  not  come  till  1738. 


B.  — Page  12. 
KILLING  OF  THE  TEN  INDIANS. 

More  detailed  accounts  of  this  expedition  may  be  found 
in  Fox's  History  of  Dunstable ;  New  England  Historical  and 
Genealogical  Register,  vol.  v.;  Belknap's  History  of  New 
Hampshire,  vol.  ii.;  Penhallow's  Indian  "Wars,  in  New 
Hampshire  Historical  Collection,  vol.  i.;  and  New  England 
Courant  of  March  1,  1725.*  These  accounts,  though  dif- 
fering in  minuteness  and  fulness,  present  no  very  material 
disagreements,  except  in  the  number  of  men  belonging  to 
Lovell's  party.  Penhallow  says  there  were  sixty  men ;  the 
New  England  Courant  rates  them  at  fifty ;  Belknap  (whose 
authority  is  Hugh  Adams's  MS.)  says  forty;  Fox  (citing 
''  Report  of  Committees  on  the  Subject  in  Massachusetts 
Records,"  as  his  authority)  makes  the  number  fifty-eight ; 
while  a  paper  is  on  file  in  the  ofiice  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
headed  "  dec*  [declaration]  of  Persons  w°  y*  10  Indians  were 
killed,"  and  containing  sixty-two  names  without  that  of 
Lovell.  Two  of  these  names,  however,  appear  to  be  dupli- 
cates. I  give  this  roll  here,  Italicizing  the  names  of  those 
who  became  proprietors  in  the  plantation  of  Nichewaug. 


*  It  will  be  noticed  by  the  careful  reader,  that  the  date,  December,  1734,  on  page 
11  of  the  Address,  is  a  misprint  for  1724. 

12 


90 


Those  printed  in  small  capitals  were  among  the  petitioners, 
but  were  expressly  excluded  from  proprietorship  by  the 
Legislature :  — 

Jn"  White,  Sam:  Tarbol,  Jer:  Hunt,  Eben:  Wright,  Jos:  Read, 
Sam.  Moor,  Phin.  Foster,  Fr"  Doyen,  S.  Hilton,  Jn°  Pollard,  Ben. 
Walker,  Jos.  Wright,  Jn°  Varnum,  Bob'  Ford,  Ben.  Parker,  Sam. 
Shattock,  Jacob  Ames,  Jn°  Stephens,  Jos.  Wheelock,  Sam.  Saw- 
yer, Ezr^  Sawyer,  Jon"  Houghton,  James  Houghton,  Hen^  Willard, 
Jacob  Gates,  Joseph  Whitcomb,  Sam^  Learned,  Rob''  Phelps, 
Moses  Graves,  Moses  Hazzen,  John  Livingston,  Jerem.  Pearly, 
W'"  Hutchins,  Jacob  Cory,  Oliver  Pollard,  Sam^  Trull,  W"*  Spal- 
den,  Sam^^  Fletcher,  Jn°  Duncon,  Jethro  Ames,  John  Sawyer,  Moses 
Chandler,  JoseplJi]  Willson,  Jon*  Parks,  Joshua  Webster,  Sam^ 
Johnson,  Steph.  Murrill,  Jacob  Pearly,  John  Hazzen,  Eb:  \_Abner  ?] 
Brown,  Jon"'  Ferren  [Farrer  in  the  other  list],  Sam.  Stickney, 
Joshua  Hutchins,  Benony  Boynton,  Eph.  Farnsworth,  Tho'  Farmer, 
Reuben  Farnsworth,  Rich.  Hall,  Neh.  Robinson,  Caleb  Dolton. 

For  farther  notices  of  Captain  Lovell  (whose  name  is 
frequently  written  Lovewell),  see  Worcester  Magazine, 
vol.  i,,  p.  20 ;  Fox's  History  of  Dunstable ;  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register  for  January,  1853. 


C  — Page  15. 

PROPHIETORS  AND  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

I  subjoin  here  a  few  such  additional  particulars  as  I  have 
been  able  to  collect  concerning  the  origin  of  some  of  those 
who  began  the  town,  proprietors,  and  early  comers.  Many 
of  the  facts  here  given,  as  well  as  those  of  the  preceding 
pages  upon  the  same  topic,  are  derived  from  the  Registry  of 
Deeds  in  Worcester  :  — 

Jonas  Houghton,  of  Lancaster,  was  a  surveyor,  and  was  em- 
ployed by  the  proprietors  to  make  the  first  improvements  in  their 
roads. 


91 


Captain  Fairbank  Moor  was  of  Lancaster,  in  1731.  In  March, 
1737,  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Narragansett,  No.  2  [West- 
minster], of  which  town,  says  Whitney,  "  he  was  the  first  planter." 

Joseph  Whitcomb,  of  Lancaster,  conveyed  land  in  Nichewaug  to 
Jonathan  Prescott,  of  Littleton,  in  1740.  A  "famous"  farm  in 
Lancaster,  on  the  road  to  Lunenburgh,  "  lately  owned  by  Capt. 
Joseph  Whitcomb,"  is  advertised  in  the  Massachusetts  Spy  of  June 
24,  1784. 

Daniel  and  Jonathan  Houghton  lived  in  that  part  of  Lancaster 
which  became  Bolton  in  1738. 

Benoni  Boyenton  had  been  of  Townsend  before  he  was  of 
Lunenburgh. 

Jetliro  Eames,  who  was  of  Lancaster,  in  1718,  is  recorded  in  the 
Registry  of  Deeds  at  Worcester,  as  being  of  "  Kingstown,  county 
of  Hampshire  "  in  1734. 

Samuel  Rugg,  a  blacksmith,  was  of  Hadley,  in  1734, 

Samuel  Larned  was  of  Milford,  Conn.,  in  1735. 

Jonathan  Farrin  was  of  "Almsbury"  [Amesbury?],  Essex 
County,  in  1735. 

William  Hutchins  was  of  Exeter,  in  1736. 

Jonathan  Atherton  was  of  Hadley,  in  1737. 

John  Hezin  [Hazen]  was  of  Rowley,  in  1738-9. 

The  Mossmans  were  of  Sudbury. 

Abner  Brown  was  a  tanner,  of  North  Yarmouth,  in  Maine,  in 
1735. 

Joseph  Read  was  of  Woburn. 

Richard  Hall,  a  blacksmith,  of  "  Tewsbury  "  [Tewksbury  ?],  in 
1738. 

Oliver  Pollard  was  of  Bedford,  in  1733. 

John  Duncan  [or  Dunton,  or  Dunkin,  as  it  was  variously 
written]  was  from  Chelmsford  or  Worcester ;  Daniel  Duncan,  his 
son,  came  to  Nichewaug  from  Worcester. 

In  compliance  with  a  requisition  from  the  General  Court, 
made  near  the  end  of  1750,  the  proprietors'  clerk  returned 
a  list  of  the  actual  settlers  then  in  the  town,  as  far  as  he  was 
able  to  do  so  within  the  time  granted  him,  naming  also  the 
proprietor  on  whose  "  right,"  or  lot,  each  was  settled. 

The  report  closes  thus  :  — 


92 


"  There  are  divers  others  settled  on  Divisions  belonging  to  the 
same  Rights  that  are  here  setled;  but  the  time  being  so  short 
since  I  saw  the  act  in  the  Prints  that  I  am  not  able  at  present  to 
give  an  exact  account  what  particular  Rights  they  are  all  setled 
on  &  convay  the  same  to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  time 
apointed 

"  but  the  number  of  famalies  in  Said  Township  are  sixty  one." 

The  number  of  settlers  mentioned  by  name  in  the  clerk's 
list  is  forty-seven.  The  names  of  so  many  of  these  as  I 
have  been  able  to  couple  with  any  information  respecting 
them  are  here  given,  with  such  brief  notices  of  them  as  I 
have  been  able  to  collect.  A  few  other  early  settlers  are  also 
mentioned.  Several  of  them  will  be  recognized  as  still  fami- 
liar names  in  the  town  :  — 

John  Stowell,  jun.,  was  from  Worcester.  He  lived  first  at  the 
house  where  the  widow  Lydia  Stowell  last  lived,  then  on  the  hill 
back  of  the  Benjamin  Chandler  Place ;  next  at  the  Doane  Place, 
which  he  exchanged  for  the  Rufus  Stowell  Place,  his  last  resi- 
dence. He  was  killed  by  the  fall  of  a  tree,  in  April,  1791,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five.  His  Avife  Sarah,  who  was  from  Sudbury,  lived 
till  1830,  and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety -nine  years  and  nine 
months. 

Jacob  "Wheeler,  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  David  Wheeler,  who 
now  lives  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  was  from  Southborough,  and 
settled  at  the  Peter  Chamberlain  Place. 

Samuel  Willson,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  brother  of 
Joseph,  and  to  have  come  from  Lancaster,  lived  at  the  Peckham 
Place,  opposite  the  house  now  occupied  by  Dr.  William  Park- 
hurst.     He  was  here  in  1738. 

Nathaniel  Sanderson,  the  grandfather  of  the  late  John  and  Cur- 
tis Sanderson,  was  from  Framingham. 

David  Sanderson  came  from  Weston,  was  chosen  deacon  of  the 
church  in  July,  1750;  for  twenty  years  was  clerk  of  the  town, 
eleven  years  selectman,  besides  holding  many  other  offices  of  trust 
and  honor  from  the  town. 

Nathan  Goddard  was  probably  from  Shrewsbury,  from  which 
place    Robert   (younger   brother   of  Nathan?)    came  and  settled 


93 

about  1752.  Robert  Goddard  settled  near  the  place  where  his 
son,  Stephen  Goddard,  now  lives  at  an  advanced  age.  Mr.  Stephen 
Goddard  says,  that,  when  his  father  built  his  house,  there  was  no 
house  between  that  and  what  is  now  called  the  Factory  Village. 

Isaac  Ward,  son  of  Obadiah  "Ward,  of  Worcester,  was  chosen 
first  deacon  of  the  church  in  Nichewaug,  December  22,  1738.  He 
removed  from  Petersham  to  Amherst,  and  thence  to  Leverett  about 
1775,  where  he  died,  October,  1777,  "on  the  day  the  news  reached 
there  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  and  his  army.  So  electrified 
were  the  people  by  the  welcome  intelligence,  all  ran  to  communi- 
cate it,  even  to  the  dying.  While  in  that  situation,  a  neighbor 
came  in,  and  told  him  that  Burgoyxe  had  surrendered  !  He 
roused  a  little,  and  asked,  '  Can  I  depend  upon  it?'  '  Yes,'  was 
the  reply.  He  answered,  '  Very  well ! '  which  were  his  last 
words."  —  Ward  Family,  by  Andrew  Henshaw  Ward. 

Elisha  Ward,  the  father  of  the  late  Henry  Ward,  Esq.,  removed 
to  Petersham  from  Shrewsbury,  in  1764.-  His  father,  Col.  Nahum 
Ward,  of  Shrewsbury,  was  a  cousin  of  Deacon  Isaac,  named  above. 
Elisha  was  a  younger  brother  of  the  distinguished  Major-General 
Artemas  Ward  of  the  revolutionary  army. 

Christopher  Page  was  from  Hardwick,  —  came  about  1749. 

David  Page,  from  Lunenburgh,  and  came  about  the  same  time. 

Sylvanus  How,  the  father  of  Washington  How,  was  the  son  of 
Jonathan  How,  of  Marlborough.  Preceding  pages  give  evidence 
that  he  felt  an  active  interest,  and  took  a  prominent  part,  in  the 
revolutionary  contest.     He  was  born  in  1727,  and  died  in  1802. 

Zedekiah  Stone  was  a  son  of  Samuel  Stone,  of  Framingham. 
He  was  here  as  early  as  1738.  David  Stone  was  his  brother,  and 
came  in  1748  to  Nichewaug,  taking  the  farm  which  a  younger 
brother,  named  Samuel,  had  occupied. 

Daniel  Miles  was  from  Pomfret,  Conn. 

George  Robbins,  from  Harvard,  and  was  here  in  1738,  when 
the  church  was  gathered. 

William  Negus  came  from  Worcester.  He  was  father  of  a 
numerous  family  of  children ;  three  of  whom  were  born  in  Wor- 
cester and  Framingham,  before  his  removal  to  Nichewaug. 

James  Clements  lived  at  the  place  afterwards  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  John  Chandler,  Esq.  He  must  have  been  among  the  first 
settlers  of  the  town  ;  for  he  was  one  of  the  number  gathered  into 
the  church  in  1738.  The  farm  on  which  he  lived  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  a  descendant. 


94 


Thomas  Rogers  was  from  Billerica;  came  in  1740. 

Mr.  Daniel  Spooner,  father  of  Wing,  and  grandfather  of  the 
late  Wing  Spooner,  was  probably  from  Dartmouth,  and  came 
about  1749  ;  he  was  chosen  deacon  of  the  church  in  1750;  lived  at 
the  place  known  more  recently  as  the  Clapp  Spooner  Place. 

Thomas  Adams  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  church, 
and  was  chosen  one  of  its  first  two  deacons ;  removed  to  Charles- 
town,  N.H.,  1754. 

Josiah  Lyon  was  from  Dedham ;  came  about  1740  ;  is  supposed 
to  have  gone  from  here  to  Shrewsbury,  and  thence  to  Grafton. 

Jonas  Farnsworth  was  from  Groton ;  was  here  in  1738  ;  kept  a 
public  house  on  the  spot  near  which  the  large  elm  now  stands, 
and  where  the  public  house,  long  kept  by  Mr.  Silas  Foster,  was 
burned  in  the  great  fire  of  1847.  He  went  from  here  in  1757  to 
Groton.  Kenelm  Winslow  was  his  successor  as  innkeeper,  and 
remained  at  the  same  stand  about  twenty  years. 

Reuben  Farnsworth,  from  Harvard,  was  here  in  1738. 

Samuel  Chamberlain  was  here  from  Billerica  about  1750. 

Earl  Flagg  came  to  Nichewaug  about  1736,  from  Framingham. 

Rev.  Thomas  Frink,  successively  pastor  of  churches  in  Rutland, 
Plymouth,  and  Barre,  was  quite  an  extensive  proprietor  of  Niche- 
waug lands  for  some  time.  There  is  no  positive  evidence  that  he 
ever  lived  here  himself,  so  far  as  is  known ;  though  he  may  have 
done  so  in  the  interval  between  the  time  of  his  dismission  from  the 
Rutland  Church  in  1740,  and  his  settlement  in  Plymouth  in  1744, 
or  in  that  between  1748,  when  he  left  Plymouth,  and  1753, 
when  he  was  installed  in  Barre.  A  committee  appointed  to  "  seat 
the  meeting-house"  in  Nichewaug,  in  1744,  assigned  a  pew  to  him, 
which  gives  some  reason  to  think  that  he  may  have  been  at  that 
time  a  resident  in  the  place. 

In  beginning  these  notices  of  persons  and  families  early 
settled  here,  my  purpose  was  to  extend  them  much  farther ; 
hut  my  remoteness  from  many  principal  sources  of  informa- 
tion has  made  them  so  meagre,  that  it  may  be  doubted, 
indeed,  whether  they  Averc  not  as  well  omitted  altogether. 
I  have  had  such  a  doubt  myself.  As  a  hint,  however,  that 
here  is  a  line  of  inquiry  which  ought  to  be  pursued,  I  con- 
clude to  let  them  stand. 


95 

D.  — Page   29. 

FIRST  MEETING-HOUSE. 


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A  diagram  is  here  given,  which  may  be  supposed  to  rep- 
resent the  division  of  the  ground-floor  of  the  meeting-house 
and  its  occupation  in  1744  or  '5 ;  the  data  being  given  for  it 
by  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed  to  seat  the  meeting- 


96 


house  in  1744.  (See  Proprietors'  Records.)  The  commit- 
tee consisted  of  Daniel  Miles,  Isaac  Wai'd,  Samuel  Willard, 
jun.,  and  Samuel  Stone.  They  were  elected  '*  to  divide  the 
pew-ground,  and  also  to  seat  the  meeting-house."  It  was 
voted,  that  their  instructions  "  be  these,  to  wit :  that  each 
man  shall  be  seated  according  to  what  land  they  now  pos- 
sess." At  an  adjourned  meeting,  instructions  were  added 
"that  the  committee  chosen  for  seating  the  meeting-house 
do  have  some  regard  to  age." 

In  1750,  "the  two  hind  seats  on  each  side  the  middle 
alley"  were  granted  to  Lieut.  Zedekiah  Stone,  Earl  Flagg, 
James  Clemence,  and  David  Stone,  "  in  order  for  building 
pews."  —  Prop.  Rec. 

At  a  reseating  of  the  meeting-house  in  1756,  it  was  voted, 
*'that  Capt.  Nathaniel  Wilder,  David  Lawson,  Jonathan 
Marble,  and  Ephraim  Rice,  be  seated  in  the  foreseat  below  : " 
the  rest  was  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  committee.  At  dif- 
ferent times  subsequently,  parties,  consisting  of  several 
persons,  were  permitted  to  unite  to  build  pews  in  different 
parts  of  the  gallery,  on  condition  of  their  keeping  the 
windows  against  them  in  repair. 

In  June,  1762,  at  a  town-meeting,  it  was  "  voted  to  give 
the  number  of  young  women  the  hind  seat  on  the  women's 
side  gallery,  in  order  to  build  a  pew  on  their  own  cost ; 
viz.,  Sarah  Rice,  Eunice  Wilder,  Parsis  Bouker,  Esther 
Holland,  Mehitable  Page,  Hannah  Walker,  Ruth  Page, 
Sarah  Curtis,  Molly  Curtis,  Susannah  Miles,  Jershua  [Jeru- 
sha?]  Hudson,  Sarah  Sanderson,  Martha  Negus,  Haddasa 
Houghton,  Ann  Wheeler." 

This  house  was  sometimes  so  much  crowded  that  boys  sat 
on  the  gallery-stairs. 


97 


E.  — Page  31. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  TOWN'S  NAME.  —  PETERSHAM  IN  ENGLAND. 

This  is  the  only  Petersham  in  America.  The  name 
was  left  blank  during  the  progress  of  the  act  of  incor- 
poration through  the  Legislature,  and  no  name  was  in- 
serted till  it  came  up  for  final  action.  It  does  not  appear 
at  whose  suggestion  the  name  was  inserted  in  the  act. 
Quabin  received  the  name  of  Greenwich  at  the  same  time ; 
and  it  seems  very  much  as  if,  in  casting  about  uncertainly 
for  names  for  the  new  towns,  the  Governor  and  his  Council 
had  picked  up  pretty  much  at  hap-hazard  the  first  two 
names  suggested  from  a  list  of  the  old  country-places  around 
London.  Petersham,  in  England,  is  a  parish  containing  a 
population  of  six  or  seven  hundred,  situated  about  seven 
miles  south-west  by  west  from  London,  in  the  county  of 
Surry.  It  gives  the  title  of  Viscount  to  the  family  of 
Stanhope,  Earls  of  Harrington.  "  In  the  vicinity  of  this 
place  are  many  elegant  villas,  particularly  Petersham  Lodge, 
formerly  the  residence  of  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  The 
pleasure-grounds  are  spacious  and  beautiful,  extending  to 
Richmond  Park,  a  portion  of  which  is  in  this  parish,  includ- 
ing the  mount  where,  according  to  tradition,  Henry  VIII. 
stood  to  see  the  signal  for  Anne  Boleyn's  execution."  It 
"  contains  also  Ham  House,  where  the  '  cabal '  met,  and  the 
great  Duke  of  Argyle  was  born."  Ham  House  was  once  a 
royal  residence,  —  the  abode  of  James  I.,  Charles  I.,  and 
Charles  II.  In  the  Doomsday  Book,  this  place  is  styled 
"  Patricisham ;  that  is,  the  Ham  or  dwelling  of  St.  Peter."  — 
Gazetteers  and   Topographical  Dictionaries. 

13 


98 


F.— Page  36. 
NEWSPAPER  ATTACK  ON  REV.  MR.   WHITNEY. 

I  find  among  manuscripts  left  .by  Mrs.  Sarali  How,  what 
appeal's  to  be  a  copy  of  a  communication  addressed  ''To  the 
Rev"*  Mr.  Aaron  Whitney  in  Petersham,"  signed  "  Phila- 
lethes,"  and  dated  "Scituate,  Nov.  10th,  1T69."  Its  tone 
is  quite  fierce.  Alluding  to  the  treatment  which  "  Mas- 
ter Man "  received  from  Mr.  Whitney,  the  writer  asks, 
"  Would  you  be  willing  to  have  one  of  your  sons  treated  in 
such  a  scurrilous  manner  as  your  great  Chandler,  Esq. 
treated  Mr.  Man,  viz.,  after  he  had  tryed  Mr.  Man,  and 
proved  him  to  be  a  good  schoolmaster  —  then  to  hoist  him 
away  before  some  Irish  Justice  to  be  treated  as  a  Fellon  ? " 

Then  comes  the  charge  of  ministerial  unfaithfulness :  — 
"  Do  you  think  you  have  been  a  faithful  watchman  to  keep 
out  Heresy  from  among  your  people,  as  he  was  a  school- 
master ?  if  so,  why  is  there  so  much  slaughter  among  your 
flock  ?  how  many  sects  have  you  under  your  charge  who 
have  never  been  warned  or  instructed ;  are  there  not  Enthu- 
siasts, Eree  thinkers  or  Deists,  Arminians,  Arians,  Antino- 
mians,  Ana-Baptists,  and  a  great  many  of  nothing  at  all 
except  weather-cocks  and  strong  asses  ! 

"  Can  it  be  said  that  you  are  as  good  a  Preacher  as  you 
are  a  Ditcher  ?   if  so,  yoiu*  character  stands  fair,"  Sec. 

In  explanation  of  one  or  two  clauses  here  transcribed,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  1st,  That  there  were  several  persons  in 
the  town  then,  and  afterwards,  who,  though  of  reputation 
for  intelligence  and  morality,  were  known  to  hold  deistical 
sentiments  ;  and,  2d,  That  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  was  reputed 
to  be  an  excellent  farmer,  and  particularly  successful  in  cer- 
tain ditching  and  draining  operations. 


99 


G.  — Page  41. 

ACTION  OF  THE  TOWN  OCCASIONED  BY  THE  LETTER  OF 
THE  BOSTON  COMMITTEE   OF  CORRESPONDENCE. 

Below  are  the  letter,  resolves,  and  vote  of  instructions 
to  the  town's  Representative  in  the  General  Court,  as  they 
were  adopted  in  town-meeting  on  the  fourth  of  January, 
1773.  They  are  given  here  to  denote  the  temper  of  the 
times  and  the  spirit  of  the  people  in  this  town,  as  well  as 
to  indicate  to  what  extent  one  of  the  foremost  men  and 
patriots  of  Massachusetts  had  a  hand  in  their  preparation. 

Those  parts  of  the  preamble  and  resolves  which  are 
included  in  brackets  are  known  to  have  come  from  Mr. 
Quincy's  hand,  as  the  original  draft  remains  in  his  own 
handwriting,  in  possession  of  his  son,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy, 
senior,  of  Boston.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  How  did 
not  hesitate  to  speak  of  his  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Quincy  in 
the  matter  of  the  resolves,  though,  according  to  his  account, 
the  aid  was  proffered,  in  the  first  instance,  rather  than 
sought. 

Lincoln  asserts  that  Mr.  Doolittle  reported  the  answer  to 
the  Boston  cu-cular.  We  have  shown  that  considerable  por- 
tions of  the  resolves  were  prepared  outside  of  the  Com- 
mittee. Mr.  Doolittle  may  have  written  the  letter  which 
accompanied  them.  Those  parts  of  the  resolves,  however, 
which  originated  within  the  Committee  (and  the  same 
remai'k  applies  with  nearly  equal  force  to  the  letter),  bear 
internal  evidence,  which  to  my  mind  is  conclusive,  that  they 
were  not  drawn  by  Mr.  Doolittle,  who  was  of  deistical  senti- 
ments. The  phraseology  and  style  render  it  far  more  pro- 
bable that  they  were  prepared  by  Rev.  Samuel  Dennis,  a 
member  of  the  Committee,  pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  at  the 
south  part  of  the  town,  and  a  zealous  and  active  "Whig. 
I  am  aware  that  a  deist  may  aifect  a  religionist's  style,  and 
quote  Scripture  as  freely  as  a  Christian  believer ;  but  aifecta- 


100 


tion  is  not  a  characteristic  of  such  papers  as  that  upon  which 
these  comments  are  made. 

"  To  the   Committee  of  Correspondence  for  the  Town  of  Boston. 

"  Gentlemen,  —  The  town  of  Petersham,  having  received  the 
circular  letter  from  the  town  of  Boston,  with  the  state  [ment]  of 
rights  and  grievances  as  published  by  them,  most  sensibly  congra- 
tulate you  on  reflecting  on  that  principle  of  virtue  which  must 
have  induced  your  town,  at  so  critical  a  day,  to  take  the  lead  in 
so  good  a  cause ;  and  our  admiration  is  heightened,  when  we  con- 
sider your  being  exposed  to  the  first  efforts  of  the  iron  jaws  of 
power.  The  time  may  come  when,  if  you  continue  your  integrity, 
that  you  may  be  driven  from  your  goodly  heritages ;  and  if  that 
should  be  the  case  (which  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  prevent),  we 
invite  you  to  share  with  us  in  our  small  supplies  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life.  And  should  the  voracious  jaws  of  tyranny  still 
haunt  us,  and  we  should  not  be  able  to  withstand  them,  we  are 
determined  to  retire  and  seek  refuge  among  the  inland  aboriginal 
natives  of  this  country,  with  whom  we  doubt  not  but  to  find  more 
humanity  and  brotherly  love  than  we  have  lately  received  from 
our  mother  country. 

"  "We  are  sensible  that  there  is  a  number  amongst  us,  who  are 
wicked  enough  to  make  use  of  their  whole  influence  to  divide,  and 
render  the  efforts  making  for  a  union  abortive ;  and  that  they  are 
induced  to  conduct  in  this  manner  from  the  low  motives  of  expect- 
ing to  be  sharers  in  the  arbitrary  power  which  they  are  so  active 
in  endeavoring  should  take  place,  and  of  sharing  in  the  unrighteous 
plunder  of  their  fellow-men.  But  may  God  graciously  disappoint 
their  measures,  and  turn  their  hearts  ! 

"We  send  herewith  an  attested  copy  of  the  doings  of  our 
town.  If  the  nature  of  causes  ever  again  bespeaks  any  more  from 
us,  we  then  again  shall  offer  what  then  may  appear  right ;  for  we 
read,  that  those  that  were  faithful  spake  often  one  to  the  other ; 
and  may  God  of  his  infinite  mercy,  in  his  own  time,  deliver  us  ! 

•«  SiLVANUS  How,  per  order. 
David  Sandeiuson,  Town  Clerk. 

["  At  a  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the 
town  of  Petersham,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  duly  assembled 
according  to  law,]  held  by  adjournment  on  the  fourth  of  January, 


101 

1773,  the  Committee,  on  the  30th  ult.,  made  the  following  report, 
viz. :  — 

["  The  town,  having  received  a  circular  letter  from  the  town  of 
Boston,  respecting  the  present  grievances  and  abominable  oppres- 
sion under  which  this  country  groans,  have  thereupon  taken  into 
their  most  serious  consideration  the  present  policy  of  the  British 
Government  and  administration  with  regard  to  Great  Britain  and 
their  Colonies ;  have  carefully  reviewed  the  mode  of  election,  and 
the  quality  of  the  electors  of  the  Commons  of  that  island ;  and  have 
also  attentively  reflected  upon  the  enormous  and  growing  influence 
of  the  crown,  and  that  bane  of  all  free  states,  a  standing  army  in 
the  time  of  peace ;  and,  in  consequence  thereof,  are  fully  confirmed 
in  the  opinion,  that  the  ancient  rights  of  the  nation  are  capitally 
invaded,  and  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  most  precious  and  estab- 
lished liberties  of  Englishmen  utterly  destroyed. 

"And  whereas  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  by  various 
statutes  and  acts,  have  unrighteously  distressed  our  trade,  denied 
and  precluded  us  from  the  setting  up  and  carrying  on  manufactures 
highly  beneficial  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  territories,  restricted 
and  prevented  our  lawful  intercourse  and  commerce  with  other 
states  and  kingdoms ;  and  have  also  made  laws  and  institutions 
touching  life  and  limb,  in  disherison  of  the  ancient  common  law  of 
the  land;  and  moreover  have,  in  these  latter  times,  robbed  and 
plundered  the  honest  and  laborious  inhabitants  of  this  extensive 
continent  of  their  property  by  mere  force  and  power ;  and  are 
now  draining  this  people  of  the  fruits  of  their  toil,  by  thus  rais- 
ing a  revenue  from  them  against  the  natural  rights  of  man,  and  in 
open  violation  of  the  laws  of  God,  — 

"This  town,  in  union  with  the  worthy  inhabitants  of  Boston, 
now  think  it  their  indispensable  duty  to  consider  of  the  premises 
and  the  present  aspect  of  the  times,  and  to  take  such  steps  as, 
upon  mature  deliberation,  are  judged  right  and  expedient.  And 
hereupon  this  town  — 

^^  Resolved,  That,  with  a  Governor  appointed  from  Great  Bri- 
tain (especially  at  this  day)  during  pleasure,  with  a  large  stipend 
dependent  upon  the  will  of  the  crown,  and  controlled  by  instruc- 
tions from  a  British  minister  of  state,  with  a  council  subject  to  the 
negative  of  such  a  Governor,  and  with  all  ofiicers,  civil  and  mili- 
tary, subject  to  his  appointment  or  consent,  with  a  castle  in  the 
hand  of  a  standing  army,  stationed  in  the  very  bowels  of  the  land, 


102 


and  with  that  amazing  number  of  placemen  and  dependents  with 
whicli  every  maritime  town  already  swarms,  no  people  can  ever  be 
truly  virtuous,  free,  or  brave. 

'■'■Resolved,  That  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  usurping  and 
exercising  a  legislative  authority  over,  and  extorting  an  unrighteous 
revenue  from,  those  colonies,  against  all  divine  and  human  laws, 
and  the  late  appointment  of  salaries  to  be  paid  to  our  Superior 
Court  Judges,  whose  creation,  pay,  and  commission  depend  on  mere 
will  and  pleasure,  completes  a  system  of  bondage  equal  to  any 
ever  before  fabricated  by  the  combined  efforts  of  the  ingenuity, 
malice,  fraud,  and  wickedness  of  man.] 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  town,  that  a  despotic, 
arbitrary  government  is  the  kingdom  of  this  world,  as  set  forth  in 
the  New  Testament,  and  is  diametrically  opposite  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity  in  a  society,  and  has  a  direct  tendency  to  sink 
a  people  into  a  profound  state  of  ignorance  and  irreligion;  and 
that,  if  we  have  aA  eye  to  our  own  and  posterity's  happiness  (not 
only  in  this  world,  but  in  the  world  to  come),  it  is  our  duty  to 
oppose  such  a  government.     And  further,  — 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  depriving  the  colonies  of  their  constitu- 
tional rights  may  be  fitly  compared  to  the  dismembering  the  natu- 
ral body,  which  will  soon  affect  the  heart ;  and  it  would  be  nothing 
unexpected  for  us  to  hear  that  those  very  persons  Avho  have  been 
so  active  in  robbing  the  colonies  of  their  constitutional  rights,  — 
that  they  have  delivered  up  the  constitution  of  our  mother  country 
into  the  hands  of  our  king.     Therefore  — 

[^'^  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  first  and  highest  social  duty  of  this 
people  to  consider  of,  and  seek  ways  and  means  for,  a  speedy  re- 
dress of  these  mighty  grievances  and  intolerable  wrongs  ;  and  that, 
for  the  obtainment  of  this  end,  this  people  are  warranted  by  the 
laws  of  God  and  nature  in  the  use  of  every  rightful  art,  and  energy 
of  policy,  stratagem  and  force.]  And  while  we  are  thus  under 
these  awful  frowns  of  divine  Providence,  and  involved,  as  this  peo- 
ple are,  in  heavy  calamities,  which  daily  increase  in  number  and 
severity,  it  is  highly  becoming  towns  and  individuals  to  humble 
themselves  before  Almighty  God,  seriously  to  commune  witli  their 
own  hearts,  and  seek  carefully  witli  tears  for  the  causes  of  the  pre- 
vailing distresses  of  the  land  ;  and  while  it  is  apparent  that  pristine 
piety  and  purity  of  morals  have  given  place  to  infidelity,  dissipation, 
luxury,  and  gross  corni])tion  of  mind  and  morals,  there  is  a  loud  call 


103 


for  public  humility,  lamentings,  and  reformation  ;  and  it  is  at  this 
time  eminently  incumbent  upon  one  and  all  to  seek  at  the  throne  of 
the  great  God  for  those  special  and  remarkable  interpositions  of 
divine  providence,  grace,  and  mercy,  which  have  so  often  saved 
New  England  from  both  public  and  private  distress  and  misery. 
And  as  there  is  great  reason  to  believe,  that  in  past  times  we  have 
too  much  depended  upon  the  exertions  of  worldly  wisdom  and  poli- 
tical devices,  it  becomes  us,  in  our  present  melancholy  situation,  to 
rely  no  longer  on  an  arm  of  flesh,  but  on  the  arms  of  that  all-powerful 
God  who  is  able  to  unite  the  numerous  inhabitants  of  this  extensive 
territory  as  a  band  of  brothers  in  one  common  cause,  who  can  easily 
give  that  true  religion  which  shall  make  us  his  people  indeed,  that 
spirit  which  shall  fit  us  to  endure  temporary  hardships  for  the  pro- 
curement of  future  happiness,  that  spirit  of  valour  and  irresistible 
courage  which  shall  occasion  our  aged  and  our  youth  to  jeopard 
their  lives  with  joy  in  the  high  places  of  the  field,  for  his  name 
and  service'  sake,  for  the  preservation  also  of  this  goodly  heritage 
of  our  fathers,  for  the  sake  of  the  living  children  of  our  loins,  and 
the  unborn  millions  of  posterity. 

"  "VVe  believe  that  there  are  very  many  who,  in  these  days,  have 
kept  their  integrity  and  garments  unspotted,  and  hope  that  God 
will  deliver  them  and  our  nation  for  their  sake ;  [that]  God  will  not 
suffer  this  land,  where  the  gospel  hath  flourished,  to  become  a 
slave  of  the  world ;  [that]  he  will  stir  up  witnesses  of  the  truth, 
and  in  his  own  time  spirit  his  people  to  stand  up  for  his  cause  and 
deliver  them.  In  a  similar  belief,  that  patriot  of  patriots,  Alger- 
Kox  Sidney,  lived  and  died,  and  dying  breathed  a  like  sentiment 
and  prophecy,  touching  his  own  and  the  then  approaching  times  ; 
a  prophecy,  however,  not  accomplished  until  a  glorious  revolu- 
tion' "  SiLVANus   HoAv,   per  order. 

"Approved  of  by  vote  of  the  town  without  contradiction. 

•'  Attest :  Ephraim  Doohttle,  Moderator, 

David  Sanderson,  Town  Clerk." 

The  tow'n  then  adopted  the  following  vote  of  instructions 
to  their  Representative  :  — 

"  To    Capt.  Ej)hraim  Doolitth. 
"  As  you  represent  us  at  the  Great  and  General  Court,  in  this 
dark,  gloomy,  and  distressing  day  of  the  manifestation  of  God's 


104 


judgments  against  us,  we  think  it  our  duty  and  interest  to  commu- 
nicate some  of  our  sentiments  to  you,  and  to  instruct  you  in  some  of 
the  most  important  concerns  of  the  public.  It  is  needless  for  us 
to  recapitulate  to  you  the  many  enormous  encroachments  on  our 
Constitution.  But  when  we  consider  the  circumstances  of  our  fore- 
fathers leaving  their  native  country,  the  hardships  they  underwent 
in  settling  this  then  howling  wilderness,  without  any  cost  to  Great 
Britain,  the  profits  they  receive  by  our  trade,  the  circumstance  of 
the  first  charter  or  compact  between  our  forefathers  and  Great 
Britain  being  wrested  from  them  (and  consequently  from  us),  the 
humble,  submissive  temper  our  forefathers  showed  in  receiving 
another,  which  abridged  them  of  many,  very  many  valuable  and 
reasonable  rights,  which  were  contained  in  the  former,  without  any 
colour  of  right ;  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  foregoing  circum- 
stances, to  have  the  remaining  privileges  of  our  present  charter 
wrested  from  us  by  mere  power,  notwithstanding  they  Avere  granted 
by  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion  ;  to  have  our 
honest  earnings  wrested  from  us  without  our  consent ;  to  have  the 
public  fountains  of  justice  corrupted  by  private  interest,  in  order  to 
pave  the  way  and  enforce  acts  of  injustice  and  tyranny,  —  we  say  that 
these  capital  instances  of  injustice  indicate  to  us  that  the  glory  is 
departed  from  the  English  nation,  and  that  it  is  our  opinion  that  our 
mother  country  has  lost  that  divine  spirit  of  truth  and  righteousness 
which,  in  former  times,  have  saved  them  and  this  country  from  ruin. 
"  Therefore  it  is  our  earnest  desire,  and  we  here  direct  you  to  use 
your  utmost  influence  (as  one  of  the  legislative  body),  to  convince 
the  nation  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  measures  that  they  have  meted 
out  to  us  will  have  a  direct  tendency  to  destroy  both  them  and  us  ; 
and  petition  the  King  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  in  the 
most  pathetic  and  striking  manner,  to  relieve  us  from  our  aggra- 
vated grievances.  But  if  all  this  should  fail,  we  recommend  it  to 
your  consideration,  and  direct  you  to  move  it  to  the  consideration  of 
the  honorable  Court,  whether  it  would  not  best  to  call  in  the  aid  of 
some  Protestant  Power  or  Powers,  requesting  that  they  would  use 
their  kind  and  Christian  influence  with  our  mother  country,  that  so 
we  may  be  relieved,  and  that  brotherly  love  and  harmony  may 
again  take  place,  and  that  natural  alliance  again  be  restored  between 
us  and  Great  Britain  which  may  continue  until  time  shall  be  no 
more.  Which  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  grant  for  Christ's  sake. 
«'  Attest :  SiLVANUS  How,  per  order. 

David  Sanderson,  Town  Clerk.  " 


105 

H.  — Page   43. 

ADVICE  TO   PETERSHAM  TORIES. 

In  the  "  Massachusetts  Spy  "  of  May  20,  1773,  an  illustra- 
tion of  this  mode  of  warfare  may  be  found.  It  contains  a 
piece  of  rhyme,  consisting  of  three  stanzas  of  sixteen  lines 

each,  entitled  "Advice  to  the  Tory  inhabitants  of  P m." 

A  few  specimen  lines  are  inserted :  — 

"  With  minds  eclips'd  and  eke  deprav'd. 

As  meek  as  any  Iamb, 
The  wretches  who  would  be  enslav'd. 

That  live  in  P-t--sh-m  ; 
For  you,  ye  worthless  Tory  band  ! 
Who  would  not  lawless  power  withstand, 
The  scorn  and  scandal  of  the  land. 

Be  endless  plagues  and  fetters  ! 
Ye  want  abilities  and  brains, 

Tho'  headstrong  as  a  ram  ; 
And  seem  to  mourn  the  want  of  chains. 

Ye  tools  of  P-t— sh-m. 
For  slaves  like  you,  the  rod  of  power 
Is  pickling  for  some  future  hour  ; 
The  taste  will  prove  austere  and  sour, 

E'en  to  the  wretch  that  flatters." 


I.  — Page  58. 
SHAYS'S  INSURRECTION. 

There  are  persons  still  living,  who  remember  well  the 
events  of  that  Sunday  morning,  Feb.  4,  1787.  Col.  Ephraim 
Stearns,  father  of  Mr.  Joel  Stearns,  led  the  government  troops 
into  town,  and,  on  Wednesday  morning,  marched  on  with 
them  to  the  barracks  in  Rutland. 

The  figure  and  movements  of  Mr.  Eleazer  Bradshaw,  who 
was  with  Lincoln's  troops  as  a  volunteer,  appear  to  have 
made  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  memory  of  the  young 

14 


106 


persons  who  saw  him  that  day,  as  they  still  graphically 
describe  him,  riding  a  fine  white  horse,  and  brandishing  a 
hanger  above  his  head. 

A  number  of  Shays's  men  thought  to  quaiter  themselves 
comfortably  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Mr.  Reed.  Mr.  Reed, 
who  was  a  man  of  large  size  and  of  great  strength  and 
courage,  soon  taught  these  "  regulators,"  as  they  styled  them- 
selves, that  he  regulated  his  own  house.  He  permitted 
them  to  occupy  certain  apartments,  but  peremptorily  forbade 
them  to  appropriate  any  thing  to  their  own  use  at  their 
peril;  and,  throvigh  the  night,  he  paced  up  and  down  the 
rooms,  keeping  guard  (sword  in  hand,  the  tradition  says), 
prepared  to  protect  his  family  and  his  property  against  the 
slightest  molestation. 


"  I  well  remember,"  writes  the  reverend  Dr.  Willard,  of  -Deer- 
field,  "  the  entrance  of  the  insurgents  into  Petersham,  and  tlie  alarm 
it  excited  among  those  who  were  known  to  be  on  the  side  of  Go- 
vernment. Several  insurgents  had  been  arrested  and  condemned 
to  death  for  having  been  found  in  arms  the  second  time,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  oath  of  allegiance,  which  had  been  imposed  after  their 
first  capture;  and  their  party  had  threatened  to  take  prisoners, 
who  should  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  life  and  safety  of  those  who 
were  under  condemnation.  On  this  account,  my  father  and  some 
others  secreted  themselves  when  the  insurgents  approached  their 
houses.  The  sudden  and  unexpected  arrival  of  Lincoln  the  next 
morning,  and  the  precipitate  retreat  of  Shays  and  his  army,  dis- 
persed all  fear,  but  not  all  trouble.  The  army  of  the  government 
was  quartered  upon  us  from  Sunday  morning  till  "Wednesday,  and 
left  our  houses  in  such  a  state  as  to  inspii'C  a  dread  of  armies  in 
every  bosom. 

"  Tlie  insurgents  were  little  prepared  to  act  with  eificiency.  To 
say  notliiug  of  their  wai^t  of  personal  qualifications,  they  were 
deficient  in  arms.  I  think  they  had  few  bayonets.  Some  of  the 
staff  officers  were  appropriately  armed ;  for,  in  his  flight,  one  of 
them  left  at  our  house  the  only  weapon  which  I  think  he  had,  —  a 
cane,  which  was  nothing  else  than  a  stick  stripped  of  its  bark,  with 
a  pewter  head,  of  which  my  boyhood  took  possession. 


107 


"  One  or  two  anecdotes  will  show  the  panic,  and  the  want  of 
military  tactics  which  were  apparent  in  the  retreat :  — 

"  I  was  out  at  the  door  on  the  approach  of  Lincoln's  army ;  and 
an  officer  of  the  insurgents  came  riding  up  at  full  speed,  and  gave 
to  me  —  a  boy  of  ten  years  —  the  oral  commission :  "  Run  into  the 
house,  and  tell  them  to  parade  in  a  minute,  for  the  enemy  are  upon 
us  ! "  I  went  in,  but  found  them  in  as  much  confusion  as  a  hive  of 
bees  in  swarming.  After  they  were  gone,  it  appeared  that  one 
of  them  had  forgotten  to  take  his  gun,  and  a  brother  of  mine  took 
possession  of  it,  and  it  was  never  called  for. 

"  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  violent  snow-storm,  or  rather  the  snow 
was  flying,  and  it  was  very  cold.  Some  poor  wight  had  his  hat 
taken  from  his  head ;  and,  I  suppose,  went  without  a  hat  against 
that  furious  north  wind  to  Athol,  where  they  halted.  I  myself 
found  the  hat  the  following  spring  in  one  of  our  lots  ;  and,  as  my 
head  was  large  for  a  boy  of  my  age,  it  suited  me  very  well,  and  I 
finished  the  wear  of  it." 


K.  — Page  59. 

FAMILY   OF   REV.  MR.  WHITNEY. 

Aaron  Whitney  was  born  in  Littleton,  Mass.,  1714  ;  was 
the  son  of  Moses  and  Elizabeth,  and  was  a  brother  of  Sarah 
Salmon,  Lydia,  and  Ephraim.*  He  married,  July  13,  1739, 
Alice  Baker,  of  Phillipston,  who  died  August  26,  1767  ; 
married,  a  second  time,  Madam  Ruth  Stearns,  widow  of  Rev. 
David  Stearns,  of  Lunenburgh,  who  survived  him,  and  died 
at  Keene,  N.  H.,  Nov.  1,  1788,  in  the  seventy-second  year 
of  her  age. 

Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  had  eleven  children :  — 

*  Dr.  Ephraim  Whitney  was  probably  a  son  of  this  Ephraim,  and  nephew  of  Rev. 
i\aron.  The  father,  and  Jane  his  wife,  were  dismissed  to  the  church  in  Chesterfield, 
in  1781.  The  doctor  died  in  Petersham,  July  26, 1801,  aged  seventy-two  years.  They 
were  from  Lunenburgh. 


108 


I.   Abel  died  while  in  college  at  Cambridge,  March  15, 
1756,  aged  sixteen.* 

II.  Peter,  born  Sept.  6,  1744  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, in  1762;  ordained  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  North- 
borough,  Nov.  4, 1767,  where  he  died  suddenly,  Feb.  29,  1816.  He 
was  the  father  of  Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  of  Quincy,  and  grand- 
father of  Rev.  George  Whitney,  successively  Pastor  of  the  Second 
and  Third  Churches  in  Roxbury,  and  of  Rev.  Frederic  A.  Whit- 
ney, now  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Brighton.  He  was  the 
author  of  several  occasional  sermons,  and  of  a  History  of  Wor- 
cester County. 

III.  Chakles  ;  lived  in  Phillipston. 

IV.  Aaron  ;  merchant ;  lived  in  Northfield,  Mass. 

V.  Alice  ;  married  Ensign  Man,  of  Petersham,  where  her 
descendants  yet  live. 

VI.    Lucy  ;   married  Dr.  Samuel  Kendall,  of  New   Salem  ; 
settled  at  Weston  ;  died  1784. 

VII.    Paul  ;  graduated  at  Harvard  University,  1772  ;  physi- 
cian at  Westfield  ;  died  1795. 

VIII.  AiiEL  ;  born  March  15,  1756  (see  I.,  Abel,  and  note)  ; 
merchant  in  Westfield;  died  March  2,  1807,  in  the  fifty-first  year 
of  his  age. 

Of  the  other  children  we  have  no  account. 


•  He  was  buried  in  Cambridge.     The  following  inscription  upon  his  headstone  is 
copied  from  Harris's  "Epitaphs  :  "  — 

"  Hie  sepultus  est  ABEL, 
Reverendi  AAKOXIS 
WHITNEY  Petershamensis, 
Filius,  et  Collcgii 
Harvardini  Alumnus  ;  qui 
Anno  ^'Ktas.  IGuio  oocubuifc 
Martii  15mo,  A.D.  175G." 

On  the  same  day  on  which  this  son  died,  another  son  was  born  to  Mr.  \yhitney,  and 
took  the  same  name.     (See  VIII.,  Abel,  above.) 


109 
L.  —  Page  73. 

COLLEGE  GRADUATES. 

I  had  hoped  to  present  a  complete  list  of  those  native 
inhabitants  of  the  town  who  have  received  a  "  liberal "  edu- 
cation. It  is  scarcely  probable  that  I  have  done  so.  So  far 
as  ascertained,  they  are  as  follows  :  — 

Abel  Whitney  (I.),  appears  to  have  died  while  a  member 
of  College,  though  he  is  styled  an  Alumnus.  (See  preced- 
ing page.) 

Peter  Whitney    ....     Graduated  Harvard  University,  1762. 

Paul  Whitney Harvard  University,  1772. 

Abel  Whitney Harvard  University,  1773. 

William  Amherst  Barron Harvard  University,  1787. 

•John  Chandler,  jun Harvard  University,  1787. 

Kichard  Whitney Harvard  University,  1787. 

Jonathan  Grout,  jun Dartmouth  CoUege,  1787. 

Xathaniel  Chandler Harvard  University,  1792. 

John  Jackson Dartmouth  College,  1792. 

William  AVard Dartmouth  College,  1792. 

Paul  Grout Dartmouth  College,  1793. 

George  Grout Dartmouth  College,  1795. 

Thomas  Barron Harvard  University,  1796. 

Elisha  Hammond Dartmouth  College,  1802. 

Samuel  Willard  * Harvard  University,  1803. 

Daniel  Bigelow,  jun Williams  College,  1803. 

LcAvis  Bigelow Williams  College,  1803. 

Abiathar  Hopkins Dartmouth  College,  1806. 

Hutchins  Hapgood Dartmouth  College,  1813. 

Aaron  Brooks,  jun Brown  University,  1817. 

Samuel  Ward  Chandler Harvard  University,  1822. 

Fisher  Ames  Foster Middletown  College,     

John  Wells  Foster ISIiddletown  CoUege,     

George  Grout  Hapgood  * Union  College,  1830. 

Daniel  Bigelow  Parkhurst     ....     Yale  College,  1836. 

Charles  Grosvenor  Goddard  ....     Amherst  CoUege,  1841. 

Francis  Augustus  Brooks       ....     Harvard  University,  1842. 

Andrew  Jackson  Wheeler     ....     Amherst  CoUege,  1846. 

♦  Mr.  WlUard  in  1826,  and  Mr.  Hapgood  iu  1852,  received  each  the  degree  of 
"  S.T.D." 


no 


The  first  four  on  the  above  list  were  sons  of  Rev.  Aaron 
Whitney.  Some  notices  of  them  may  be  found  upon  pre- 
ceding pages. 

William  Amherst  Barron  was  the  oldest  son  of  William 
Barron,  Esq. ;  was  a  Tutor  in  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philoso- 
phy at  Cambridge  from  1793  to  1800.  He  had  a  remarkable 
faculty  of  communicating  knowledge  distinctly  to  persons  of  com- 
mon apprehension.  It  is  believed,  that,  after  leaving  Cambridge, 
he  was  employed  in  some  branch  of  instruction  under  the  patro- 
nage of  the  General  Government.  He  died  in  1825,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-seven,  having  never  been  married. 

John  Chandlkr,  jun.,  was  a  son  of  John  Chandler,  Esq.  He 
was  engaged  in  various  business,  especially  in  agriculture  and  mer- 
chandise. For  thirty  years,  more  or  less,  he  and  his  brother,  and 
one  or  two  other  men,  were  connected  in  a  firm  extending  its 
operations  to  several  diiferent  towns ;  and  John  was  the  mainspring 
of  its  action.  In  his  early  life,  he  was  distinguished  for  sound 
judgment,  quick  discernment,  and  gi'eat  activity.  Enterprising  and 
public-spirited,  he  was  justly  regarded  as  a  useful  citizen.  In  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  Mr.  Chandler's  mind  lost  its  equipoise,  and 
he  died  in  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Worcester,  in  1846. 
(See  page  80.) 

Richard  Whitney,  the  third  son  of  Dr.  Ephraim  Whitney, 
was  a  man  of  superior  talents,  and  uncommon  aptitude  for  teach- 
ing. He  studied  law,  and  entered  on  his  profession  in  Brattle- 
borough,  Vt.,  with  fair  prospects  of  a  brilliant  career ;  but  he  fell  a 
lamented  victim  of  that  well-known  destroyer,  by  whose  ravages 
the  community  was,  and  still  is,  deplorably  afflicted, —  a  destroyer 
so  well  known  that  it  need  not  be  named.     He  died  in  1806. 

Jonathan  Grout,  jun.,  was  the  oldest  son  of  Hon.  Jonathan 
Grout.  After  leaving  college,  he  taught  for  a  time ;  and  "  to  his 
thorough  and  effective  mode  of  teaching  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant rudiments  of  our  language,"  writes  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  "  I  was 
more  indebted  than  to  that  of  any  other  man."  For  many  subse- 
quent years,  he  was  engaged  in  planning  and  applying  a  mode  of 
telegraphic  communication ;  but,  it  is  believed,  without  realizing 
much,  if  any,  pecuniary  profit. 

Nathaniel  Chandler  was  brother  of  John  Chandler,  jun., 
above  mentioned.     He  occupied  for  many  years  the  house  and 


Ill 


store  which  had  belonged  to  his  father.  He  was  subject  to  depres- 
sion of  mind ;  but,  in  company,  was  generally  in  high  spirits, 
expressing  himself  in  metaphors  and  hyperboles,  which  were  often 
original  and  peculiarly  striking.  Being  remarkable  also  for  his 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  statistics  of  his  times,  he  was  able 
at  once  to  engage  the  attention,  and  to  impart  instruction.  (See 
page  81.) 

John  Jackson  was  the  son  of  James  Jackson ;  studied  for  the 
ministry  with  Rev.  Judah  Nash,  of  Montague ;  was  settled  for  a 
few  years  in  Gill ;  and  was  represented  to  be  an  Arminian  in 
theological  opinion.  He  removed  to  Canada  after  his  dismission, 
and  officiated  for  some  years  in  an  Episcopal  church.  He  died  at 
an  advanced  age. 

William  Ward,  a  classmate  of  Mr.  Jackson,  was  a  son  of 
Capt.  Elisha  Ward  ;  studied  law ;  settled  in  Shutesbury  ;  but  was 
obliged  to  resort  to  other  means  than  the  profits  of  his  office  for  a 
part  of  his  support. 

Paul  Grout,  a  brother  of  Jonathan  Grout,  jun.,  early  went  to 
one  of  the  Middle  States  (Maryland,  it  is  believed),  where  he  sooc 
died. 

George  Grout,  brother  of  Jonathan,  jun.,  and  Paul,  went  t( 
the  South  also,  and  did  not  long  survive. 

Thomas  Barron  was  a  son  of  William  Barron,  Esq.,  and 
brother  of  William  A.  Barron,  above  noticed.  He  studied  law  with 
Hon.  Stephen  R.  Bradley,  in  Westminster,  Vt,  but  did  not  con- 
tinue many  years  in  the  practice.  He  was  for  some  time  in  Eng- 
land ;  and,  after  his  return,  went  to  Ohio,  where  he  probably  died 
in  1830  or  '31,  —  as  he  was  then  in  a  feeble  state  of  health,  and  his 
nearest  friends  have  not  been  able  to  learn  any  thing  of  him  since. 
He  had  no  family. 

Elisha  Hammond  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Hammond,  and  was 
born  in  the  south-west  part  of  Petersham.  It  is  believed  that  he 
went  to  the  South  as  a  teacher.  Hon.  J.  H.  Hammond,  late  Go- 
vernor of  South  Carolina,  is  said  to  be  his  son. 

Samuel  Willard,  son  of  Dea.  William  Willard,  studied  for  the 
ministry ;  was  settled  in  Deerfield,  Sept.  23,  1807,  and  resigned  his 
charge  on  the  twenty-second  anniversary.  Though  he  has  been  for 
many  years  wholly  deprived  of  sight,  he  has  occasionally  officiated 
in  pulpits  on  the  Sabbath,  and  still  survives  honored  and  loved 
among  the  flock  of  his  former  pastorship. 


112 


For  the  foregoing  facts  relative  to  coUege-gradutes,  I  am 
chiefly  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  the  last  named. 

Daniel  Bigelow,  jun.,  was  a  son  of  Hon.  Daniel  Bigelow. 
Whether  he  studied  a  profession,  we  do  not  know.  He  went  to  the 
State  of  Ohio,  and  there  died. 

Lewis  Bigelow.     See  page  77. 

Abiathar  Hopkins  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Hopkins,  who  lived 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town.  He  studied  law,  and  opened  an 
office  in  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  where  he  was  successful  for  a  number 
of  years.  He  died,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  native  town,  on  the  27th 
of  September,  1821,  at  the  age  of  forty  years. 

HuTCHiNS  Hapgood  was  the  second  son  of  Hutchins  Hapgood. 
In  the  winter  vacation  of  his  Sophomore  year,  he  was  accidentally 
shot  in  Petersham  Woods.  By  this  event,  his  left  arm  was  so  badly 
fractured  that  he  never  regained  its  full  use.  He  was  unable  to 
unite  with  his  class  till  the  autumn  of  1811.  He  began  the  study 
of  law  in  November,  1814,  with  John  Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Northamp- 
ton;  went  to  Cavendish,  N.  Y.,  July,  1815,  where  he  finished  his 
professional  studies.  He  afterwards  went  into  mercantile  pursuits 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  His  health  failing,  he  relinquished  his 
business  in  1825;  and  died  at  Petersham,  June  2,  1828.  —  From 
manuscript  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Felt,  his  classmate. 

Aaron  Brooks,  jun.,  son  of  Major  Aaron  Brooks,  studied  law, 
and  went  into  its  practice  in  Petersham,  in  company  with  Hon. 
Lewis  Bigelow.  After  Mr.  Bigelow  left  town,  he  continued  in  an 
extensive  and  successful  practice  here  till  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
May,  1845. 

Samuel  Ward  Chandler,  son  of  Nathaniel  Chandler,  Esq., 
engaged  for  some  years  in  manufacturing  business  ;  and  is  at  pre- 
sent a  lithographer  in  the  city  of  Boston. 

Fisher  Ames  Foster,  son  of  Rev.  Festus  Foster,  was  educated 
for  the  Bar,  and  was  for  many  years  editor  of  the  "  Cincinnati 
Atlas." 

John  Wells  Foster,  brother  of  the  above,  occupies  a  conspi- 
cuous place  among  the  American  scientific  corps  as  United  States 
Geologist  for  the  Lake  Superior  Mining  District. 

George  Grout  Hapgood,  son  of  the  late  Eber  Hapgood, 
taught  an  academical  school  a  year  or  two  in  the  State  of  New 
York ;  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in 


113 


1832,  and  is  now  Presiding  Elder  of  Syracuse  District,  Black  River 
Conference,  and  resides  in  Oswego. 

Daniel  Bigelow  Parkhurst,  son  of  William  Parkhurst, 
M.D.,  and  grandson  of  Hon.  Daniel  Bigelow,  studied  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  in  the  Theological  School  of  Harvard  University ; 
and  at  the  close  of  his  preparatory  studies,  not  being  strong  in 
health,  went  to  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  the  autumn  of  1840,  to  pass  the 
winter.  He  returned  early  in  the  following  spring,  and  was  settled 
over  the  First  Congregational  Society  in  Deerfield,  Mass.,  on  the 
21st  of  July,  1841.  Excepting  only  the  precariousness  of  his 
health,  the  auspices  attending  his  settlement  were  all  of  the  hap- 
piest kind.  He  preached  to  his  people,  however,  but  four  and  a 
half  sabbaths,  and  survived  his  settlement  only  seven  months.  He 
died  at  Keene,  N.  H.,  whither  he  had  gone  for  medical  treatment, 
on  the  16th  of  February,  1842,  leaving  his  flock  in  deep  grief  at 
the  sudden  blight  which  had  fallen  on  their  hopes. 

Charles  G.  Goddard,  sonof  Ashbel  Goddard,  studied  divinity 
after  leaving  college,  and  was  settled  over  a  society  in  East  Hart- 
land,  Conn.,  about  three  years,  when  he  gave  up  preaching  on 
account  of  poor  health,  and  removed  to  East  Windsor  Hill,  where 
he  has  been  principal  teacher  in  a  seminary  established  at  that 
place. 

Fraxcis  Augustus  Brooks,  son  of  Aaron  Brooks,  jun.,  Esq., 
studied  law,  and  began  its  practice  in  his  native  town  in  1845.  He 
removed  to  Boston  in  January,  1848,  and  remains  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession  in  that  city. 

Andrew  J.  Wheeler,  son  of  Col.  Josiah  Wheeler,  graduated 
from  college  with  unusual  honors,  and  gave  promise  of  distin- 
guished success  and  usefulness  in  the  profession  which  he  had 
chosen,  —  that  of  the  ministry.  But  his  health  was  already  declin- 
ing when  his  collegiate  course  was  ended,  and  he  died  the  year 
following,  gi-eatly  lamented. 

Besides  those  who  have  graduated  from  colleges,  there 
have  been  several  natives  of  the  town,  who  have  been  par- 
tially educated  in  these  institutions,  but  who  have  not  com- 
pleted a  full  course  :  — 

William  Spencer  Prentice  was  nearly  three  years  a  mem- 
ber of  Hai-vai'd  College.     He  studied  theology  afterwards  for  a 

16 


114 


year ;  but,  on  account  of  poor  health,  abandoned  the  life  of  a 
student,  and  went,  some  time  later,  to  one  of  the  Western  States, 
where  he  has  held  the  office  of  Judge  of  Probate,  and,  it  is  believed, 
other  offices  of  responsibility. 

George  Augustus"  Houghton  very  nearly  completed  a  full 
course  of  study  in  Dartmouth  College ;  he  left  during  his  senior 
year,  on  account  of  ill  health.  He  commenced  the  study  of  law, 
but  soon  after  went  to  the  "West,  and  resided  for  some  years  in 
St.  Louis,  Mo.  Returning  to  Massachusetts,  he  held  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Commercial  Insurance  Company,  in  Boston,  for 
five  years.  He  is  at  present  Cashier  in  the  office  of  the  City  Trea- 
sury, Boston. 

Nelson  Bnooks,  son  of  Aaron  Brooks,  sen.,  was  for  a  time  a 
member  of  Amherst  College  ;  he  died  young. 

Edmund  B.  Willson  was  for  a  short  time  in  Yale  College ; 
studied  for  the  ministry;  and  has  been  settled  in  Grafton  and 
West  Roxbury,  Mass. 

Charles  K.  Wetherell  was  a  member  of  Yale  College  for  a 
time ;  studied  law  ;  practised  a  few  years  in  Petersham,  and  re- 
moved thence  to  Barre,.  where  he  now  pursues  his  profession. 

J.  Sumner  Sanderson  was  in  Amherst  College  two  years  ; 
left  on  account  of  sickness. 

There  are  as  many  as  six  natives  of  the  town  now  in 
various  colleges  ;  and  quite  a  number  of  others  have  gone 
from  families  in  this  town  to  obtain  a  collegiate  education, 
though  not  natives. 


M.  —  Pages  66  and  84. 

MISCELLANEOUS      ITEMS. 

Besides  the  foregoing  notes,  which  have  been  immediately 
suggested  by  passages  in  the  preceding  Addi-ess,  some  other 
facts,  which  have  been  incidentally  collected  in  the  course  of 
its  preparation,  it  is  thought  may  be  worthy  of  preservation 
here  as  possessing  an  interest  for  such  as  are  curious  in  mat- 
ters connected  with  the  town's  history. 


115 


APPEARANCE    AND    CONDITION    OF    PETERSHAM    IN    THE    LATTEK 
PART    OF    THE    LAST    CENTURY. 

Wishing  to  reproduce  as  far  as  possible  a  picture  of  the 
appearance  of  this  town,  as  it  was  fifty  or  sixty  years  since, 
I  appealed  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  of  Deerfield,  to  give  me 
some  of  the  reminiscences  of  his  boyhood.  I  have  been 
kindly  furnished  by  him  with  the  following  enumeration  and 
description  of  the  houses  as  he  remembers  them  in  his  early 
youth  (mostly  those  within  a  mile  of  the  meeting-house). 
I  cannot  do  better  than  employ  his  own  words :  — 

"  Of  all  the  houses  in  Petersham  prior  to  the  year  1790,  I  think 
it  would  be  safe  to  affirm  that  there  were  not  more  than  fifteen  or 
eighteen  that  were  ever  painted ;  and,  of  these,  not  one  was  of 
lighter  color  than  yellow  ochre.  Five  or  six  were  painted  with 
Spanish  brown  ;  viz.,  that  which  was  successively  owned  by  Mr. 
Lyndes,  Daniel  Bigelow,  Esq.,  his  son  Lewis,  and  Seth  Hapgood, 
Esq. ;  that  on  the  west  side  of  the  Common,  built  by  William 
Peckham,  afterwards  owned  by  Dr.  Bridge  ;  that  of  the  elder  John 
Stowell ;  Capt.  Parmenter's,  near  the  division  of  the  road,  a  mile 
south  of  the  meeting-house ;  Joseph  Gleason's,  the  elder,  a  mile 
west  of  the  meeting-house ;  Samuel  Bryant's,  in  the  easterly  part 
of  the  town  ;  and,  I  think.  Col.  Grout's,  on  the  road  to  Athol.  The 
yellow  houses  were,  the  old  part  of  the  house  next  above  the  Bell 
schoolhouse,  on  the  west,  then  belonging  to  the  Rogers  Family ;  the 
house  of  John  Chandler,  Esq.,  the  elder,  near  his  store  ;  that  which 
was  called  "  the  tan-yard  house,"  also  belonging  to  him ;  that 
which  is  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Parkhurst ;  and  the  one  immediately 
opposite,  which  was  owned  by  Capt.  John  Peckham,  and  his  son 
Robert ;  and  that  which  was  then  owned  by  John  Wilder,  in  the 
east  part  of  the  town,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Col.  Josiah  White. 
If  other  houses  had  been  painted,  they  had  become  of  nearly  the 
same  color  with  timber  tarnished  by  the  weather. 

"  In  the  times  of  which  I  am  speaking,  there  were  no  clusters  of 
houses.  From  Chandler's  store  on  the  east  side  of  the  street, 
there  were  only  five  houses  for  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  ending  at 
Mr.  Stowell's,  excepting  a  small  tenement  of  one  room,  which  wag 


116 


soon  demolished,  and  another  dwelling,  in  which  the  house  was 
united  with  a  tannery,  and  was  soon  after  converted  into  a  pottery. 
Those  houses  were  my  father's,  now  my  brother's  ;*  the  house 
afterwards  owned  and  occupied  by  John  Chandler,  jun. ;  Ivory 
Holland's,  a  little  south-east  of  Dr.  Whitney's,  afterwards  Thomas 
Hapgood's ;  Nathan  Wheeler's,  opposite  to  Esquire  Bigelow's ; 
and  Robert  Peckham's.  Tlie  house  now  belonging  to  Jared  Weed, 
Esq.,  was  built  in  1784  or  '5,  as  I  know  from  the  fact  that  one 
of  my  brothers  at  the  raising  fell  into  the  cellar,  struck  the  back 
of  his  head  on  a  stone,  and  when  taken  up  was  supposed  to  be 
dead,  but  afterwards  recovered.  Mr.  Maccarty's  house  was  built 
some  years  afterwards. 

"  In  the  same  distance,  on  the  west  side,  there  were  about  ten 
houses :  the  bevelled-roofed  house  opposite  my  father's  [where  Col. 
Doolittle  had  lived]  ;  the  one  opposite  to  that  of  John  Chandler, 
jun. ;  the  "  tan-yard  house,"  so  called  ;  that  which  was  successively 
owned  by  Dr.  Whitney  and  the  Hapgoods  ;  Esquire  Bigelow's  ;  the 
one  on  the  opposite  corner,  in  which  dwelling  and  store  or  shop 
were  combined ;  the  old  tavern-house,  north  of  the  church,  then 
called  the  Winslow  House  ;  that  on  the  west  side  of  the  Common 
[Mr.  Jonas  How's]  ;  a  low  house  at  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the 
Common,  belonging  to  Josiah  Peckham  ;  what  is  now  Dr.  Park- 
hurst's  ;  and  the  old  mansion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney,  which  gave 
place  to  the  larger  house  built  by  Mr.  Reed. 

"  From  the  old  Stowell  House  to  the  south  end  of  the  three-miles 
street,  there  were,  I  think,  only  two  dwellings  ;  one  belonging  to 
Joab  Stowell,  and  the  other  to  Benjamin  Chandler.f  Mr.  Reed's 
house  was  built  about  the  year  1788,  perhaps  a  year  or  two  after  or 
before.  The  old  mansion  of  Mr.  Whitney,  which  stood  three  or 
four  rods  farther  to  the  west,  and  two  or  three  farther  to  the  south, 
continued  in  being  several  years  after,  and  was  inhabited  part  of 
the  time  by  Joseph  Smith,  a  tailor,  whose  widow  died  in  North- 
field  at  the  close  of  1738,  or  beginning  of  '39,  in  her  hundred  and 
first  year. 

*  Dea.  Cephas  Willard's. 

■f-  This  Mr.  Chandler  seems  to  have  given  himself  and  the  town  some  uneasiness, 
on  the  subject  of  roads.  In  a  warrant  for  a  town-meeting,  to  be  held  in  1779,  was  an 
article  :  "To  hear  the  request  of  Benjamin  Chandler  respecting  a  road  through  his 
land,  and  for  the  town  to  alter  the  same  as  they  may  think  best ;  or  make  him  easy 
in  such  manner  as  he  may  not  plague  the  selectmen  any  more." 


117 


"  On  the  road  leading  to  the  west  from  the  house  successively 
owned  by  Samuel  Peckham,  Samuel  Cutler,*  Festus  Foster,  and 
Dr.  Parkhurst,  there  was,  in  my  early  recollections,  only  one  house 
for  nearly  or  quite  a  mile,  —  that  of  Jonathan  Hunter.  Martin 
Rice  afterwards  built  a  house  a  hundred  rods,  more  or  less,  from 
Dr.  Parkhurst's. 

"  On  the  road  leading  from  the  same  point  easterly  to  the  upper 
mill,  there  were  four  houses :  one  owned,  and  I  believe  inhabited, 
by  the  Maccarty  family ;  one  by  Ebenezer  Winslow,  and  after- 
wards by  Simon  "Whitney ;  one  at  the  corner,  formed  by  the  east- 
ern road  and  a  lane  running  towards  the  south,  owned  and  occupied 
by  Philip  Spooner,  and  afterwards  by  his  grandson,  Clapp  Spooner  ; 
and  that  which  belonged  to  Ruggles  Spooner,  about  half-way  to 
the  mill.  The  road  leading  from  Ruggles  Spooner's  directly  to  the 
meeting-house  was  not  laid  till  near  the  close  of  the  century,  and, 
I  think,  remained  without  any  dwelling-house  upon  it  for  twelve  or 
fifteen  years. 

"  On  the  road  leading  from  the  meeting-house  towards  New 
Salem,  the  old  house  belonging  to  Joseph  Gleason,  the  elder,  was 
the  third ;  the  other  two  being  that  of  Capt.  Wing  Spooner,  and 
that  of  Dea.  Amos  Stone. 

"  On  the  parallel  road  running  west  from  Esquire  Bigelow's,  there 
were  only  two  houses  for  more  than  a  mile :  one  within  about  fifty 
rods  of  the  street,  successively  occupied  by  various  tenants,  and 
that  of  David  Stone,  the  elder. 

"  On  the  lane  running  north-westerly  from  Hapgood's  tan-yard, 
there  were  two  houses,  —  Luther  Holland's,  and  Capt.  Ebenezer 
Bragg's. 

"  These,  I  think,  were  all  the  houses  within  a  mile  of  the  church, 
on  the  roads  in  various  directions,  prior  to  the  erection  of  the 
three-story  house  between  the  old  tavern  and  the  Common.  Pos- 
sibly I  may  have  forgotten  one  or  two.  The  house  owned  and 
occupied  by  William  Clark  was  a  cooper's  shop,  erected  for  the 
accommodation  of  Chandler's  pearlash,  and  was  afterwards  moved 
and  fitted  for  a  dwelling. 

"  In  early  times,  Petersham  was  the  thoroughfare  for  teams 
passing  with  merchandise  from  Boston  through  Sudbury,  Shrews- 
bury,  Holden,  Rutland,   and   Barre,  to  Athol,   Oi-ange,  Warwick, 

*  Kept  as  a  public  house  by  Peckham  and  Cutler. 


118 


Northfield,  and  the  south-eastern  part  of  Vermont.  On  this  road 
there  were  four  taverns  in  Petersham :  that  of  Bryant's,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  town  ;  Rogers's  and  Dean's,  near  the  Bell 
schoolhouse  ;  and  Capt.  Elisha  Ward's,  at  the  North  End.  Rogers's 
and  Dean's  were  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  street ;  and  I  well 
remember  that  Dean's  sign  was  somewhat  emblematic  of  what  a 
tavern  should  be,  viz.,  a  tea-kettle  hung  from  the  arm  of  the 
post. 

"  In  the  early  times  of  which  I  am  speaking,  the  grounds  and 
fences  about  the  houses  were  univei-sally  in  a  rude  state;  for 
instance,  those  of  John  Chandler,  Esq.,  were  very  nearly  as  nature 
left  them,  excepting  that  the  trees  had  been  cut  away,  and  heavy 
teams  constantly  passed  across  the  corner  of  what  is  now  the  front- 
yard,  between  the  house  and  store.  It  was  not  till  about  1787  or 
'8  that  the  terraces  were  formed,  and  the  grounds  enclosed  with 
a  handsome  fence ;  and  yet  Mr.  Chandler  was  probably  the  first 
man  in  Petersham,  both  in  wealth  and  taste.  As  an  evidence  of 
taste,  I  need  only  advert  to  the  fact,  that  he  had  a  park  for  deer, 
comprising  seventy  acres,  more  or  less,  and  encompassed  with  a 
zigzag  or  Virginia  fence,  ten  or  twelve  rails  high,  sufficient,  as  was 
supposed,  to  prevent,  on  the  one  hand,  the  escape  of  deer,  and,  on 
the  other,  the  intrusion  of  wolves  and  dogs.  To  say  nothing  of  pre- 
paring the  timber,  the  labor  and  cost  of  lifting  such  an  amount  of 
rails  to  such  a  height  must  have  been  great,  when  we  consider  that 
the  whole  extent  of  the  fence  was  something  like  a  mile  and  a  half. 
.  .  .  This  fence  remained  at  its  full  height  for  several  years." 

REVOLUTIONAKY    SOLDIERS. 

"  A  muster-roll  of  Capt.  Jolm  Wheeler's  company  as 
minute-men,  commanded  by  Col.  Ephraim  Doolittle,  from  the 
19th  of  April,  1775,  as  libertines  to  the  cause  they  are  now 
in." 

They  were  allowed  1^.  a  mile  for  travel.  Those  marked  * 
were  paid  for  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  travel,  —  about  tlie 
distance  to  and  from  Cambridge.  Those  marked  f  were  in 
Capt.  Joel  Fletcher's  company  in  camp  at  Winter  Hill, 
Charlestown,  Oct.  6,  1775,  —  Col.  Doolittle's  regiment. 
Those  marked  +  were  in  Capt.  Jonathan  Holman's  company 


119 


in  camp  at  the  same  time  and  place,  and  belonging  to  the 
same  resriment :  — 


tJohn  Wheeler,  Captain. 

*Edw.  Barker  [or  Bowker],  Lieut. 

JJohn  Bowker,  Ensign  [Lieutenant 

in  October]. 
JThos.  Davenport,  Sergeant. 
♦John  Holland,  „ 

John  Rogers,  „ 

♦Joel  Doolittle,  „ 

JThad.  Houghton,  Corporal. 
^Israel  Houghton. 
i^Caleb  Perry. 
JDavid  Perry. 

JThomas  Wheeler,  Drummer. 
tCaleb  Bryant,  Fifer. 
fAaron  Allen. 
tBezile    Amsdel    [Bezaleel    Ams- 

den?]. 
♦Sam.  Bryant. 
♦Thomas  Bouker. 
JEzekiel  Bouker. 
tNat.  Boz  worth. 
♦David  Clarke. 
♦Reuben  Cummings. 
tEphraim  Claflin. 
tDavid  [Daniel?]  Claflin. 
fJohn  Finney  ["  Fiendly  "  or  Find- 

lay?]. 
♦Benjamin  Ganson. 
♦Joanna  [?]  Gallen. 


♦Peter  Gore. 

Luther  Holland. 
♦Phazez  [?]  Houghton. 
♦Silvanus  How. 
♦John  How, 
JJacob  Houghton. 
tHenry  W.  Hunt. 
♦James  Ha-vvjies. 
♦Thos.  Jackson. 
fBenj.  Knapp. 
♦Dan'l  Mills  [Miles  ?]. 
♦Joab  Mills  [Miles  ?]. 

William  Peckham. 
♦Eph.  Bill. 

Amos  Bill. 

John  Bill. 
♦Luke  Bill. 
♦Abel  Rogers. 
JJabez  Spear. 
♦Dav.  Sanderson. 
♦Eph.  Sterns. 
fJohn  Stores  [Stowell  ?]. 
♦Ruggles  Spooner. 
♦Eliak[im]  Spooner. 
♦Wing  Spooner. 
JJohn  Warden. 
♦John  Wilder. 
♦Cornelius  AVilder. 
♦Joseph  Wilson. 


Of  Petersham  men  in  Capt.  Fletcher's  company,  besides 
those  already  mentioned  and  marked  f,  were  the  following  : 
Jotham  Houghton,  Ebenezer  Ingersoll,  "William  Clements, 
Daniel  Duncan,  David  Fling,  Silas  Harris  (died  July  7th), 
Stephen  Hall,  Robert  Hill,  Jonas  Negus,  Abel  Wheeler. 

Capt.  Fletcher  was  of  Templeton. 

The  following,  be'sides  those  marked  |  on  the  preceding 
pages,  were  of  Petersham,  and  in  Capt.  Holman's  company  : 
Martin  Eice  [fifer],   David  Bruce,  Thomas  Groce,    Daniel 


120 


Hastings,  Isaac  Palmer,  Amos  Rice,  Ebenezer  Wilson.  Capt. 
Holman  was  of  Templcton. 

The  staff-officers  of  Col.  Doolittle's  regiment  were  Col., 
Ephraim  Doolittle,  of  Petersham  ;  Lieut.-Colonel,  Benjamin 
Holden,  of  Princeton  ;  Major,  Willard  Moore,  of  Paxton  ; 
Chaplain,  Pev.  Benjamin  Balch,  of  Dan  vers  ;  Adjutant,  John 
"Woodward,  of  "Westminster  ;  Quartermaster,  Benjamin  How- 
ard, of  Shrewsbury ;  Surgeon,  Enoch  Dole,  of  Lancaster  ; 
Surgeon's  Mate,  Nathan  Burnap,  of  Hopkinton.  —  Document 
in  offi,ce  of  Secretary  of  State. 

Several  of  those  above  named,  continued  in  the  service 
through,  or  nearly  through,  the  war.  Some  of  these,  and 
many  other  names,  are  on  the  town-books  as  having  received 
money  from  the  town  in  compensation  for  military  service, 
or  as  having  their  taxes  "sunk."  Bounties  and  various 
encouragements  were  given  to  the  soldiers  who  enlisted 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  Avar.  It  would  appear  from  a 
vote  of  the  town,  adopted  in  September,  1778,  that  Lieut. 
John  Wheeler  had  rendered  services  at  Dorchester ;  that 
Lieut.  Stearns  had  been  at  Bennington  six  weeks,  in  1777  ; 
and  in  June,  1782,  Jos.  Smith  asked  the  town  to  pay  him 
the  value  of  a  gun  which  he  lost  "at  Bunker  Hill  fight." 

SLAVES. 

The  number  of  slaves  in  Petersham  was  never  very  large. 
There  appear  to  have  been  none  in  1754.  Ten  years  later, 
there  were  eight.  Kenelm  Winslow,  who  kept  the  tavern,  had 
two  or  three  ;  one  of  them  —  Tack  by  name  —  appears  to 
have  been  quite  a  public  character.  Earl  Flagg  had  one  ;  Wil- 
liam Barron,  one  ;  Andrew  Dalrymple,  one  ;  Daniel  Spooner, 
one ;  Elisha  Ward,  one.  It  is  mentioned  in  Kev.  Mr. 
Clarke's  Centennial  Sermon  at  Athol,  that  a  negro  boy, 
named  Titus,  was  given  to  Rev.  Mr.  Humphrey,  the  first 
minister  of  Athol,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney,  of  Petersham. 
He  died  in  Mr.  Humphrey's  family,  Nov.  7,  1773,  at  the 
age  of  three  years  and  a  half.     At  his  funeral,  his  late  master 


121 


preached  a  sermon  from  this  text :  "  The  small  and  the  great 
are  there,  and  the  servant  is  free  from  his  master." 

CASUALTIES,   EPIDEMICS,   ETC. 

Mr.  Jotham  Houghton,  living  on  Chimney  Hill,  being 
absent  with  Mrs.  Houghton  from  their  house  one  evening, 
and  their  children  being  left  in  it,  it  took  fire,  and  was 
burned  together  with  the  inmates.  The  number  of  children 
that  perished  is  differently  stated  by  different  narrators  ; 
the  lowest  number  given  by  any,  being  two ;  the  highest, 
four. 

The  small-pox  visited  Petersham  in  the  winter  of  1760—61. 
Stephen  Hall  died  of  it.     Two  Province  soldiers  had  it. 

In  September,  17T6,  the  town  voted  to  allow  an  inocu- 
lation hospital  for  the  small-pox,  which  was  afterwards 
appointed  to  be  at  Mr.  Frederick  Rogers's.  Ephraim  Wool- 
son  (sometimes  titled  Esq.,  and  sometimes  Dr.)  was  "pre- 
ferred to  superintend  the  business,"  In  the  following  spring, 
the  hospital  was  voted  to  be  discontinued,  "  by  a  great  ma- 
jority." 

A  severe  tornado  is  mentioned  in  the  newspapers  as 
having  swept  over  this  town  on  the  19th  of  August,  1788. 

A  brief  notice  of  the  ravages  of  the  spotted  fever  in  1810 
will  be  found  on  pages  78—9.  It  is  said  to  have  made  its 
first  appearance  on  the  borders  of  Dana  and  Petersham.  A 
daughter  of  Dr.  Flint  died  about  the  same  time  with  her 
father  ;  and  another  daughter,  about  three  days  after.  This 
plague  seemed,  at  one  moment,  almost  to  threaten  the  depo- 
pulation of  the  place.  It  raged  in  Barre,  also,  with  great 
violence  ;  five  persons  are  said  to  have  been  buried  there  in 
one  day.  A  day  of  fasting  was  kept  in  Petersham,  at  which 
five  ministers  attended.  Other  towns  around  likewise  ob- 
served fasts  to  avert  its  coming.  —  Manuscrijjt  of  Mrs.  S. 
How. 

A  very  extensive  and  disastrous  fire  occurred  in  Peters- 
ham on  the  15th  of  April,  1847,  sweeping  off  a  large  part 

16 


122 


of  the  dwellings  which  surrounded  the  Common.  A  pre- 
vious fire  had,  on  February  5,  1845,  burnt  down  the 
town-house  and  old  meeting-house,  the  latter  of  which  had 
been  removed  to  the  east  side  of  the  Common,  and  fitted  up 
into  schoolrooms,  and  a  spacious  hall  for  public  uses.  The 
fire  of  1847  laid  waste  the  westerly  side  of  the  Common, 
leaving  but  two  or  three  buildings  standing  between  the 
corner  of  the  road  leading  west  from  the  Common  and  the 
Orthodox  meeting-house.  Fourteen  buildings  were  burned  ; 
among  them  one,  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  Avith  a  steam- 
engine  and  other  machinery,  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
lasting-buttons  ;  two  large  tavern-houses  (one,  three  stories 
in  height),  with  their  stables,  barns,  and  outbuildings.  Be- 
sides these,  were  one  dwelling-house,  one  large  store,  one 
building  occupied  by  shops,  offices,  &c.  The  loss  by  these 
fires  was  estimated  at  about  fifty  thousand  dollars.  But,  as  a 
calamitous  stroke  upon  the  industry  and  prosperity  of  the 
town,  it  was  more  injurious  than  figures  can  show.  Follow- 
ing, as  it  did,  upon  the  heels  of  other  reverses  and  misfor- 
tunes, from  which  the  place  was  suffering,  it  seemed  to 
prostrate  and  paralyze  the  business  of  the  beautiful  village, 
throughout  which  were  to  be  seen  previously  the  marks  of 
enterprise  and  thiift  on  every  side. 


ACCOUNT 


PROCEEDINGS  ON  THE  DAY  OF  CELEBRATION. 


PREPARED  BY  FRANCIS  A.  BROOKS,  ESQ. 


The  Town  of  Petersham,  having  the  present  year  attained 
the  venerable  age  of  one  hundred  years  of  corporate  exist- 
ence, voted  at  its  regular  Annual  Meeting,  held  March  6, 
1854,  to  commemorate  the  event ;  and  made  an  appropria- 
tion of  money,  and  appointed  a  Committee  of  Arrangement, 
for  the  purpose,  consisting  of  the  following  citizens  :  — 


Wm.  Parkhurst. 
Cephas  Willard. 
Seth  Hapgood. 
Phinehas  W.  Barr. 
Lewis  Whitney. 

JOHX    G.    MuDGE. 

Jos.  G.  Parmenter. 
Daniel  Stowell. 


Wm.  H.  Bancroft. 
Hubbard  Peckham. 

J.    P.    PiLLSBURY. 

John  M.  Holman. 
Jesse  Rogers. 
William  Cook. 
Collins  Andrews. 


The  Fourth  of  July  was  fixed  upon  as  the  day  of  celebra- 
tion. Rev.  Edmund  B.  Willson  was  selected  to  deliver  an 
Address  ;  and  the  following  persons  were  appointed  officers 
of  the  day  :  — 


124 

Dr.  WILLIAJM  PARKHTJRST,  President. 
Vice-  Presidents . 


Seth  Hapoood. 
Cephas  Willard. 
Artemas  Bryant. 
Jesse  Gale. 
Theodore  Clement. 


William  H.  Foster. 
Francis  A.  Brooks. 
Parley  Hammond. 
N.  F.  Bryant. 
Avery  Clark. 


F.  A.  Brooks         ....         Toast-master. 
Lewis  Whitney         ....    Chief  Marshal. 

Assistant  Marshals. 

John  G.  Mudge.  I  Francis  G.  Parmenter. 

Welcome  Wadsworth.  Amory  Bigelow. 

Henry  Brooks.  James  W.  Brooks. 

Stephen  Howe.  Lyman  White. 

George  Gallond. 

The  day  itself,  always  grateful  to  American  freemen,  but 
doubly  so  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Petersham  on  this 
occasion,  AA'as  greeted  with  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  firing 
of  cannon.     The  weather  was  fair,  though  oppressively  warm. 

The  town-hall  was  opened  as  a  place  of  rendezvous  for 
citizens  and  returning  friends,  who  gathered  there  to  ex- 
change greetings,  hear  again  the  sound  of  familiar  voices, 
and  renew  old  acquaintance  and  friendships.  Cordial  shak- 
ings of  the  hand  and  kind  looks  abounded  there,  and  were 
as  pleasant  to  behold  as  to  partake.  Then,  too,  the  events  of 
many  years  passed  through  the  mind  in  rapid  succession ; 
and  forms  and  faces,  existing  in  the  memory  alone,  flitted 
around  like  phantoms,  and,  for  the  time,  the  present  scene 
was  lost  in  visions  and  recollections  of  the  past.  But  this 
most  interesting  re-union  was  interrupted  much  too  soon, 
by  the  forming  of  a  procession,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Chief  iSIarshal.  At  the  head  of  the  procession  was  a  volun- 
teer escort-company,  raised  for  the  occasion,  under  the 
command  of  Capt.  ( Jilcs  Shattuck.  Their  uniform  was  that 
of  the  "  Continental  "  soldiers,  and  their  unique  appearance 
added  much  to  the  interest  of  the  day. 


125 


Another  remnant  of  the  past,  in  the  procession,  consisted 
of  a  couple  on  horseback,  representing  man  and  wife,  attired 
in  antique  costume,  —  she  riding  on  a  pillion  ;  and  their 
novel  appearance,  together  with  the  suavity  and  soberness  of 
their  demeanor,  excited  much  mirth. 

At  ten  o'clock,  this  procession  (and  so  large  a  one  had 
never  before  measured  the  streets  of  the  quiet  old  town) 
marched  to  a  bower,  erected  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the 
Common,  where  the  exercises  were  as  follows :  — 

INVOCATION  AND  READING  OF  SCRIPTUKES. 

BY    RET.    J.    SHEPAEDSON. 


HYMN. 


PRAYER. 

BY    REV.    J.    J.    PUTNAM. 


ORIGINAL  ODE. 

BY   MISS   MARY   ANN   HOWE. 

The  birthday  of  Freedom  !  a  jubilee  sound, 

From  hill-top  to  hill-top  re-echo  it  round ; 

Our  sires  fought  for  Freedom,  —  their  sons  know  its  worth, 

And  a  nation  of  freemen  have  sprung  into  birth. 

And  we,  who  a  Century  count,  since  our  sires 
First  planted  their  hearthstones  and  kindled  their  fires, 
Assemble  to  thank  Him  whose  watch  and  whose  ward 
Hath  ever  been  o'er  us  to  guide  and  to  guard. 

We  boast  not  of  riches,  —  oiu:  wealth  is  the  soil, 
Oiu'  wants  are  supplied  by  the  fruit  of  ^\ir  toil : 
The  sons  of  New  England,  as  freemen  we  stand, 
And  warm  is  the  grasp  of  the  toil-hardened  hand. 

No  iron-horse  tramples  our  valleys  so  fair, 
No  lightning-flash  speedeth  a  message  through  air  ; 
But  Hygeia  sitteth  entlironed  on  our  hills. 
Whose  picturesque  beauty  with  ecstasy  thrills. 


126 

Old  NiCHEWAUO  welcomes  her  gathering  sons, 
And  greets  with  delight  all  her  wandering  ones, 
Returned  to  their  birthplace,  —  the  links  of  a  chain, 
Long  severed,  once  more  are  xinited  again. 

Heaven's  arch  bendeth  o'er  us  in  sheltering  love, 
A  pledge  of  re-union  in  mansions  above : 
A  hymn  of  thanksgiving  and  gratitude  raise, 
A  song  of  rejoicing,  —  a  paean  of  praise. 


At  the  close  of  the  services  at  the  bower,  the  procession 
was  again  formed,  and  moved  to  a  large  pavilion,  where  the 
dinner-tables,  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate  thirteen  hun- 
dred and  fifty  persons,  were  fully  occupied.  A  blessing  was 
invoked  by  Rev.  Luther  Willson ;  and,  after  the  company 
had  partaken  of  the  food  before  them,  they  joined  in  singing 
the  following  hymn  to  the  tune  of  "  St.  Martins  :  " — 

Let  children  hear  the  mighty  deeds 

Which  God  performed  of  old, 
Which  in  o\ir  younger  years  we  saw. 

And  which  our  fathers  told. 

He  bids  us  make  his  glories  known. 

His  works  of  power  and  grace ; 
And  we'll  convey  his  wonders  down 

Through  every  rising  race. 

Our  lips  shall  tell  them  to  our  sons, 

And  they  again  to  theirs, 
That  generations  yet  unborn 

May  teach  them  to  their  heirs. 

Thus  shall  they  learn,  in  God  alone 

Their  hope  securely  stands, 
That  they  may  ne'er  forget  his  works. 

But  practise  his  commands. 

Dr.  "William  Parkhuest,  the  President  of  the  day,  then 
welcomed  them  in  an  address  at  once  genial,  lively,  familiar, 


127 


grave,  and  humorous  ;  in  the  course  of  which  he  exhibited 
the  original  weapon  of  Indian  warfare,  somewhat  noto- 
rious in  its  day,  invented  and  made  by  Col.  Ephraim  Doo- 
little,  a  former  citizen  of  Petersham.  It  was  a  rude  and 
very  primitive-looking  instrument,  in  the  likeness  of  a  pitch- 
fork, and  certainly  seemed  a  relic  of  a  very  remote  antiquity. 
It  is  the  property  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  of 
Worcester.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  President's  Address, 
which  was  very  well  received,  the  regular  toasts,  prepared 
by  the  toast-master,  were  announced  by  him,  and  responded 
to  as  follows  :  — 

1.   The  Sons  and  Daughters  of  Petersham.  —  They  \mite  to-day  in 
gratefvil  recollections,  and  in  social  and  fraternal  greetings. 

"  Sweet  Home  "  —  by  the  Band. 


2.  The  Pioneers  and  First  Settlers  op  Petersham.  —  In  danger,  pri- 
■vation,  and  suffering,  they  planted  :  we  reap  in  peace,  plenty,  and  joy. 

Rev.  Luther  Willson  responded  to  the  last  sentiment  in 
a  pertinent  and  happy  manner. 


3.  OuE  Revolutionary  Sires,  the  Patriots  of  '76. — Their  lofty  and 
patriotic  daring  and  wise  counsels  have  acquired  and  handed  down  to  us  a 
liberty  the  most  perfect,  and  a  national  existence  the  most  beneficent  and 
glorious,  in  the  world's  history.  Let  xis  not  prove  unworthy  of  the  rich  inhe- 
ritance, by  ungratefully  depreciating  those  blessings,  or  failing  to  preserve  and 
transmit  them. 

Song  —  '*  Our  Country's  Flag." 

N.  F.  Bryant,  Esq.,  of  Barre,  responded  to  the  last 
sentiment,  and  gave  as  a  sentiment  — 

July  4th,  '76.  —  A  date  never  to  be  obliterated,  while  history  or  tradition 
bears  from  age  to  age  the  words,  "  American  Revolution,"  "  Liberty  or 
death." 


4.  The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

Music  —  "  Yankee  Doodle." 


128 


The  following  letter  from  His  Excellency,  Governor 
Washburn,  was  read,  — 

Worcester,  June  14,  1864. 

My  dear  Sir, —  I  duly  received  your  kind  note  of  invitation  to 
attend  your  celebration  on  the  4th.  I  should  be  most  happy  to 
accept  it  if  I  could;  for  I  approve  of  the  plan  as  an  admirable 
one.  To  bring  back  to  their  homes  the  sons  of  any  of  the  towns 
of  Massachusetts,  on  any  occasion,  cannot  fail  to  be  fraught  with 
salutary  influences ;  and  to  do  it  on  such  an  anniversary  must  be 
adding  to  the  ordinary  hallowed  associations  of  home,  the  pride  and 
love  of  country  which  the  memory  of  those  who  took  part  in  the 
struggles  of  that  period  cannot  fail  to  awaken. 

Petersham  took  an  early  and  active  part,  in  the  firm  and 
patriotic  resolutions  which  her  citizens  adopted  at  that  time,  and 
which  form  an  interesting  part  of  the  history  of  that  period ; 
and  her  sons,  from  whatever  quarter  they  may  come,  can  hardly 
fail  to  derive  new  inspiration  from  the  spot  and  the  occasion. 

But  I  am  allowing  my  train  of  thought  to  run  away  with  me, 
instead  of  saying,  what  I  regret  to  do,  that,  if  I  shall  be  able  to 
accept  any  invitation  for  that  day,  I  am  already  engaged  to  be  in 
Boston,  and  therefore  am  obliged  to  decline. 

I  am,  very  truly  and  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

Emory  "Washburn. 

His  Excellency  also  enclosed  the  sentiment  which  fol- 
lows :  — 

Petersham.  —  On  the  spot  where  the  fathers  lighted  the  flame  of  Freedom, 
may  their  sons  never  forget  how  to  keep  the  fixe  still  bright  and  glowing  ! 


6.  The  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  Hait^  Columbia  "  —  by  the  Band. 


6.  Our  Township.  —  Iii  its  varied  surface  of  green  hills  and  fertile  valleys, 
nature  shines  forth  in  beauty  and  sublimity.  May  the  minds  and  hearts  of  its 
people  be  ever  open  to  the  sweet  influences  of  these  her  teacliings  ! 

This  sentiment  was  responded  to  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bartol,  of 
Lancaster,  in  a  very  familiar  and  graceful  manner. 


129 


7.  The  Clergy.  —  One  of  the  main  pillars  in  the  social  structure.     Ever 
faithful  to  the  arduous  but  noble  calling  to  which  they  have  been  devoted. 


Responded  to  by  Rev.  J.  J.  Putnam. 


8.  Common  Schools.  —  The  means  by  vrhich  we  have  become  the  most 
intelligent  of  nations.  In  remembering  oiir  Pilgrim  Fathers,  let  us  not  forget 
that  they  first  introduced  and  established  them. 

Responded  to  by  Rev,  A.  B.  Foster. 


9.  The  Memory  of  our  Mothers.  —  We,  their  children,  "  rise  up,  and  call 
them  blessed." 

Responded  to  in  an  appropriate  manner  by  Rev.  E.  B. 

WiLLSON. 


10.  The  Homestead.  — 

"  I've  wandered  on  through  many  a  clime  where  flowers  of  beauty  grew, 
Where  all  was  blissful  to  the  heart,  and  lovely  to  the  view; 
I've  seen  them  in  their  twilight  pride,  and  in  their  dress  of  mom,  — 
But  none  appeared  so  sweet  to  me  as  the  place  where  I  was  born." 

"  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket  "  —  by  the  Band. 

C.   K.  Wetherell,    Esq.,  of   Barre,   responded    to    the 
above,  and  closed  with  the  following  sentiment :  — 

Our  Early  Home.  —  Amid  toil,  or  pleasure's  gay  scenes,  wherever  we 
may  roam,  the  dearest  spot  in  our  memory  is  our  native  home. 


11.    The  Memory  op  our  Deceased  Friends  and  Relatives. 
Music  —  by  the  Band. 


12.  The  Farmers  of  Petersham. — While  they  cultivate,  with  untiring 
industry,  their  land,  may  they  not  neglect  the  richer  soil  of  their  minds  ! 

Hon.  Francis  B.  Fay,  of  Chelsea,  responded  in  a  witty 
and  excellent  speech,  which  was  well  received. 

17 


130 


13.  OuB  Military  Escort  of  "'76,"  "Chips  of  the  old  Block,"  — 
As  ready  to  take  up  arms  against  their  country's  foes,  as  they  have  been 
willing  to-day  to  bear  them  for  their  neighbors  and  friends. 


Col.   Wadsworth,    in   behalf   of   the    Escort   Company, 
offered  the  following  sentiment :  — 

The  Enemy  of  our  Country.  —  When  he  steps  upon  our  shores  in  pur- 
suit of  "beauty  and  booty,"  we'll  give  him  cotton  bags  and  bullets. 


The  following  are  some  of  the  volunteer  sentiments 
given  :  — 

The  Town  of  Petersham.  —  For  its  prosperity,  much  indebted  to  the  intel- 
ligence and  independence  of  its  me?i ,-  still  more  to  the  industry,  education, 
and  discretion  of  its  icometi.     (By  Rev.  Dr.  Noyes.) 

The  Orator  of  the  Day,  —  Himself  a  prophet,  and  the  son  of  a  prophet ; 
yet  not  without  honor  in  his  oavti  country.     (By  F.  A.  Brooks.)  » 

Our  Friends  from  Abroad.  —  We  trust  they  will  not  wait  for  the  next 
centennial  anniversary  before  again  joining  in  festivities  which  will  at  least 
commemorate  our  national  anniversary.     (By  Seth  Hapgood.) 

The  Son  of  the  Second  Minister  of  Petersham.      (By  llev.  E.  B. 

Willson.) 

Responded  to  by  Samuel  H.  Reed,  Esq.,  High  Sheriff  of 
Franklin  Co.,  who  gave  — 

My  Nath-e  Town.  —  May  she  long  continue  to  prosper ;  and,  above  all, 
may  she  ever  maintain  her  present  high  patriotic  and  moral  position  among 
her  sister  towns,  which  mutually  form  tlie  great  body  of  the  "  Heart  of  the 
Commonwealth  !  " 

Our  Native  Town.  —  The  good  foster-mother  of  us  all,  and  especially  the 
mother  of  good  Fosters.     (By  F.  A.  Brooks.) 

Responded  to  by  Wm.  H.  Foster,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  who 
gave  — 


131 


OtTB  Natfve  Home.  —  Its  recollections  shall  be  ever  fresh  in  ovir  remem- 
brance. 

Petersham,  —  Once  the  thoroughfare  from  East  to  West,  and  North  and 
South ;  now  isolated.  Her  sons  have  honorably  filled  positions  in  all  the 
learned  professions ;  have  been  members  of  both  branches  of  the  State  Legis- 
lature, Representatives  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  ;  one  a  member 
of  the  first  Congress  under  the  Federal  Constitution,  and  one  a  Governor  of 
the  Palmetto  State.  May  she  remain  like  a  city  set  on  a  hill,  that  cannot  be 
hid !     (By  Cephas  Willaed.) 

The  Women  OF  Petebsham  peesent  here  to-day. — The  town  cannot 

It 

degenerate  or  decay  as  long  as  she  can  point  to  such  as  these,  and  claim  them 
as  her  jewels.     (By  F.  A.  Brooks.) 

The  Health,  Happiness,  and  Prosperity  of  all  the  Sons  and  Daugh- 
ters OF  Old  Nichewaug.  —  (By  Avery  Clark,  Esq.,  of  New  York. 

The  President  of  the  Day.  —  May  he  live  an  hundred  years  to  come, 
and  wear  his  age  as  lightly  as  he  wears  his  honors  ! 

The  Early  Inhabitants  of  Petersham.  —  May  their  characters  be  read, 
their  worth  appreciated,  and  memories  richly  cherished,  by  their  children's 
children  for  ever  !     (By  David  Lee,  Esq.,  of  Barre.) 

Our  Parents  and  Grandparents.  —  The  one  gave  us  sound  constitutions 
for  our  bodies  ;  the  others,  for  the  State.  Be  it  ours  to  preserve  them.  (By 
George  B.  Lincoln,  of  New  York.) 

The  Home  of  our  Childhood.  — 

"  Green  for  ever  be  the  groves, 
And  bright  the  flowery  sod, 
Where  first  the  child's  glad  spirit  loves 
Its  country  and  its  God."' 

(By  F.  A.  Brooks.) 

Burnshirt  Hill,  —  Remarkable  as  being  the  birthplace  of  two  distin- 
guished individuals. 

"  Old  Grimes  is  dead ;  " 

but,  we  thank  God,  the  other  is  spared  to  preside  with  so  much  dignity  on 
the  present  occasion.     (By  J.  Henry  Goddard,  of  Barre.) 

The  *'  Fair  Women  and  Brave  Men  "  who  may  stand  here  one  hundred 
years  hence.  —  May  they  be,  in  blood  and  spirit,  fully  equal  to  their  gene- 
ration  ! 

Frederic  Chandler,  of  Lancaster,  in  response  to  a  call 
made   upon    him   by    the    President,   related    an    interesting 


132 


anecdote,  illustrative  of  the  spirit  of  his  maternal  ancestor, 
by  which  she  acquired  a  fame  for  "  grit "  (a  quality  of 
female  character,  more  common  and  more  necessary  to  our 
grandmothers  than  it  is  to  their  daughters  of  to-day),  in 
allusion  to  which  he  offered  the  following  sentiment :  — 

The  Memory  of  Lydia  Chandler.  —  May  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
Petersham  inherit  the  "  true  grit !  " 

Petersham.  —  «'  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are 
peace;  length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand,  and  in  her  left  hand  riches  and 
honor.  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon  her,  and  happy  is 
every  one  that  retaineth  her."     (By  P.  H.  Babbitt,  of  Barre.) 

An  aged  man,  wearing  the  costume  of  the  past  generation, 
was  represented  by  Alfred  D.  Gates,  who  sustained  the  cha- 
racter during  the  day  with  amusing  accuracy;  in  this  spirit, 
he  offered  the  following  sentiment :  — 

The  First  Settlers  of  Petersham  ;  of  whom  I  regret  to  say  I  am  the 
only  survivor.  —  May  the  principles  which  they  inculcated  be  strictly  followed 
by  the  present  generation  ! 

Interesting  sj)eeclies  were  made  both  by  the  gentlemen 
above  named,  and  by  several  others  present ;  but  as  they 
were  mostly  occasional,  and  familiar  in  style,  and  not  made 
for  "bunkum,"  or  intended  to  be  reported  or  preserved,  no 
attempt  has  been  made  to  give  them  here  at  large.  The  best 
praise  which  can  be  bestowed  on  them  is,  that  they  were 
well  received,  and  answered  their  purpose  at  the  time. 
There  were  present  at  dinner,  eight  persons,  residing  in 
the  town,  respectively  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age  ;  one 
of  whom  (Capt.  Joel  Brooks)  is  in  his  ninety-sixth  year, 
but  is  still  able  to  do  a  good  day's  work  on  his  farm.  Mrs. 
Farrar,  a  resident,  widow  of  the  late  E-ev.  Joseph  Farrar, 
and  sister  of  Capt.  Brooks  just  mentioned,  was  ninctij-nine 
last  February.  She  was  not  able  to  be  present.  At  six 
o'clock,  the  company  united  in  singing  "Old  Hundred," 
and  voted  that  the  meeting  stand  adjourned  for  one  hundred 


133 


years.  Before  separating,  the  non-resident  natives  gave  three 
hearty  cheers  for  their  old  town.  ' 

In  the  evening,  brilliant  fireworks,  procured  by  liberal 
subscriptions  of  the  citizens  and  natives,  were  displayed  on 
the  Common  to  the  great  delight  of  a  large  concourse  of 
people,  many  of  whom  had  never  before  witnessed  any 
exhibition  of  the  kind.  The  last  piece  attracted  particular 
attention  by  its  appropriate  design,  representing  an  Indian, 
equipped  with  bow  and  arrow,  with  the  word  "  Nichewaug  " 
in  letters  of  flame,  and  the  date  1754. 

The  spirit  of  fellowship  and  good-will,  and  the  absence  of 
other  spirit  (none  of  which  could  be  had),  rendered  the  day 
entirely  peaceable  and  orderly ;  and  the  special  constables, 
who  were  sworn  in  that  day  to  preserve  law  and  order, 
found  no  cause  to  exercise  the  power  they  wielded. 

The  occasion  was  a  happy  one  to  all ;  and,  though  de- 
signed as  a  remembrancer  of  the  past,  it  will  itself  prove  a 
subject  of  pleasing  remembrance  to  many. 


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